The Four: A Ben 10 Story
by Writingaddict169
Summary: Ben, Gwen, and Kevin meet a strange girl after fighting some DNAliens. Her name is Nature and she comes from the planet Heart. She has powers, but you're going to have to read the story to find out what they are and what happens. Ben/OC and Gwen/Kevin.
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

Nature= girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or Ben 10: Alien Force or anything that has to do with the show(s).

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Ben let out a battle cry. The DNAliens had been quiet for a while now, and Ben couldn't see why. They were attacking an innocent girl who had dark brown hair and eyes. **(A/N: This is not Melodie. For those who aren't familiar with Melodie, she is from my other FanFic.:The New Girl. Check it out!)** Her jeans were ripped and one of her sleeves was torn, probably from fighting, Ben had guessed. But it didn't matter what the DNAliens were doing, just that he, Ben 10, had to stop them. Oh, and with the rest of his team, Gwen and Kevin.

Ben clicked the Omnitrix to one of his favorite aliens, Humongousaur. He felt the alien take over him completely and the next thing he knew, Ben was taller than everyone (and thing) around him. He let out a loud roar and started fighting. He looked over at Gwen and Kevin who were tag-teaming. Next, he took a quick glance at the girl and realized she was still in trouble. Ben pushed the aliens out of his way and stomped towards her. From a distance, she looked like she was 12 years old but upon closer inspection, he realized she was 15 or 16. "Don't worry, we're here to save you," Ben told the girl. She wordlessly nodded, the look of fright bright in her eyes. Suddenly, a weird whistle was heard and the DNAliens dispersed. They jumped into their trucks and sped away.

"Well, that was odd," commented Gwen. Kevin nodded his head in agreement and walked over to Ben and the strange girl. Ben helped the girl to her feet.

"Thanks for helping me," she said. "Not many people would do that for me."

"Your welcome. By the way, my name is Ben and this is my cousin Gwen and that is Kevin," he introduced the other two people who where now standing besides him. "That was some mess you got into. What did they want?"

The girl shrugged. "I was walking and they came out of nowhere. Normally, I can defend myself pretty well, but, I don't know what happened. They pointed some strange gun at me and I just collapsed."

"What's your name?" Gwen interjected.

"Nature."

"That's an odd name," Kevin said. He got an elbow to the stomach as a response. "What?"

Nature couldn't help but laugh. "It's okay, Gwen. Back home, it's not common either."

"Where, is home, exactly?" asked Ben.

"Heart," she answered. The team gave her a weird look. "I-I mean, Earth. Here." Nature blushed. "Sorry, I'm having a bad time remembering things. I'm sure it won't be so bad later on. It sometimes takes a while to remember stuff, especially after a shock like that. Not being able to defend yourself is kinda scary."

Gwen nodded sympathetically. "Do you want us to give you a ride home? Your parents must be worried."

"Like yours are," she retorted sharply. Gwen looked at her in shock. "Sorry, your parents must know. After all, you're on your home planet."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked. "I though you said you were from Earth."

"I am, kind of," she admitted. "You see, I'm from the planet Heart. It's like Earth, except that everyone has powers and your names are based off of your powers. If your power is flying, for example, your name might be Elsu or Eilir. **(A/N: Those are real names! I Googled it ;) )** So my name is Nature, which means elements."

"So what can you do," questioned Gwen. "I'm not sure what your power is."

"Simple," said Nature, "I can control the elements: water, fire, earth, and air. There is metal, but I'll leave that for Kevin to use."

"If you're not from here, what are you doing here?" Ben said. He still wasn't quite sure why she was here or how she got here.

" I have to find Ben Tennyson, Gwen Tennyson, and Kevin Levin," she whispered, looking at the ground. Looking up, she continued, "And it looks like I already found them."


	2. Chapter 2: The Explanation

Disclaimer: I do not own it.

Chapter 2: The Explanation

The car ride to home was a silent one. Luckily, they stopped at Mr. Smoothie for a quick rest. Ben ran inside, ordered some smoothies, and ran back out with the carrying tray. "Okay, so, explain everything that you can remember," Ben said.

"Everything? Or just how I got here and forward," Nature clarified.

"The second one," he answered.

"Okay. Like I said before, Heart is just like Earth. Generally the same makeup, same elements, some of the same animals, and of course, aliens constantly attacking. Unlike people of Earth, my people all have powers. Your name must mean what your powers are. So, for example, your power is changing into animals, your name might be Kenya. If you can attract metal, your name would be Silver. Parents try to name you as close to your power as they can. If it's nothing like it, then you are virtually an outcast. Names are very powerful.

"I'm not quite sure exactly how I got here, just that I went through a portal that landed me here. I was told to find The Three. There are Four guardians and I'm one of them. The other Three I have to find which was what I was doing when I got attacked. My great-great-great grandmother was a founder of my planet and made a prophecy that one of her great grandchildren had to find the other Three to save the universe and ultimately keep the peace.

"Everyone was skeptical when my grandmother told them that I was the one to do so. Yeah, I was the smartest and all, but people always thought that it would happen hundreds of years from now and it wouldn't be some 15 year old girl. My grandmother told me to keep going and never return home until I find the others and save the universe and our worlds. She warned me that it might take a long time and several planets and galaxies, even to the point that I really wouldn't be the one. I told her I would do her and my family proud and wouldn't return home until I found you guys," Nature took a deep breath before continuing. "It was really hard to leave my friends and stuff. I thought I would never see them again. But the worst part was leaving my team."

"What team?" Ben interrupted.

"I was part of a team that protected my planet from aliens and intruders," Nature explained.

"But I thought everyone had powers," Gwen said.

"They do, but not all of them know how to use them really well, or they just don't want to risk the danger."

"So why did you?" Kevin asked.

"Let's let her finish," Ben said.

Nature nodded her thanks. "Like I was saying before, my team saves our people from danger. We are also in charge of making visitors from other worlds feel comfortable and happy. We try not to have a hostile environment. You always want to feel welcomed on a different planet.

"Anyways, we have several teams that do this, but mine is the best. Everyone underestimated us when we first signed up; we were nine years old. Our team consisted of Tsiyone, Jarlath, Kenya, and Artaxiad. Tsiyone can fly and has super strength; Jarlath has telekinesis; Kenya can turn into any animal; and Artaxiad controls, generates, and absorbs light. We work so well together. Nothing can stop us."

Kevin looked like he was about to say something before Ben cut him off. "Let me get this straight, you think that us four are The Four? How do you know this for sure?"

Nature shrugged. "I don't. Like I said, I've been trying to find them. But in the prophecies, The Four are described exactly like us. I'm pretty sure it's us."

"So you don't know it's us, but you think it's us?" questioned Gwen.  
"Yep!"

Kevin finally spoke, "You never answered my question on why you decided to risk your life for saving the planet."

"Did you really have a choice to have powers?" Nature questioned. Kevin shook his head. "Neither do our people. But we do have a choice whether we want to help our planet or not. Kind of like Ben with the Omnitrix. He either uses it or doesn't. If he doesn't, I think it would be a waste. Same thing with those who don't protect our planet when they have a gift such as this. When you have something special, why waste it? For the good, though," she said, giving a pointed look at Kevin.

"So that's the story?" Gwen asked. Nature nodded. "Do you think we can save the universe?"  
"It depends."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"It depends if you want to or not."

"What if we do?" Kevin asked.

"Then you save the universe and become known everywhere. People will practically worship you once they know what you prevented from happening."  
"And if we don't?"

"Then you're wasting your talents."

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_ A series of explosions exploded next to the four teenagers. Before they knew it, they were being flung into the air. "What's going on?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know," Ben said, "but I think it's time I went hero." He clicked the Omnitrix and slammed down on it hard. "Jetray!" Ben flew up above the cloud of smoke and saw a human with red hair. "Listen, I don't want to hurt you, just stop whatever you're doing and I'll let you go." But the person didn't stop. Instead, they seemed to continue, going faster with each explosion he threw. Ben shot some red laser, just enough to scare the human but not physical hurt them.

"Ben, I don't think it's working!" Gwen called from somewhere down below him.

"Then let me try," Kevin said, absorbing the asphalt beneath him. He let out a cry before diving into the smoke. Ben saw his friend trying to hit the man but was failing miserably.

Gwen shot pink discs of mana out of her hands and flung them at the man.

"My fight is not with you," the strange man said.

"Then why are you here?" Kevin questioned.

"Her." He pointed at Nature.

"I'm not going back!" she cried.

"Don't do this, Nature," he warned. "You wouldn't want your friends to get hurt, now would you?"

"Just lay off!" She closed her eyes and vines shot out of the ground, wrapping themselves around the man. The vines didn't last long, though, for the man burned them using fire that came out of his hands.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said once he was free. "You're father wishes you to return home. I must do my duty and bring you to him."

Ben snickered. "Do your duty?" An explosion was aimed at Ben. "Sorry, dude," he said crossly as the Omnitrix timed out. "Aw, man!"

"I'm not going home, Brant," Nature said, still fighting.

"Then maybe with force you will," he said darkly, throwing fire at her.

"Nature, look out!" called Gwen who quickly threw up a pink shield in front of her. Nature rolled out from behind the shield and threw water orbs at Brant's fire, dowsing it. Kevin looked about ready to jump in and help Nature, but Ben and Gwen held him back.

"This fight is obviously between them," Ben commented. "We shouldn't be getting in the way."

Nature fell to the ground, avoiding a fire orb in the process. Vines shot up from below Brant, covering him head to toe. Nature walked over to him and brought him down so they could see eye to eye. "Go back home, Brant, and tell Dad I'm not done yet and I won't be done until I find them. Tell him, not to send anyone or anything after me anymore. I can handle myself, I don't need him to worry. He already has too much on his mind. Tell him to forget until I come home. Tell him Grandma was right, I am the chosen one. Tell everyone that she was right," she whispered fiercely.

"And if they don't listen? If they don't believe?" Brant questioned cockily.

"That's their problem. All that matters is that _I_ know it's true." She looked at the ground and repeated, "That's all that matters," as if to reassure herself.

"Very well," he bowed his head. "But in order for me to get home, I'm going to need to be unbound."

The vines fell from his body and back into the ground. "Enjoy your freedom, Nature, because it won't last long," Brant said. "You know you're father is going to do whatever he can to bring you back home and lead a normal life. I just hope you realize how foolish you've been before it's too late." He surveyed Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. "I hope your friends here can protect you when he comes."

"I don't need protection," Nature threatened. "I can take on anyone from Heart, you of all people know that."

Brant nodded and took one last look at Nature. "Shall I tell your team that you are well?"

Nature nodded. "They're more than just a team, ya know."

He nodded again in understanding. "I should go. You're father is awaiting the results."  
"Then why are you still here?" Ben asked angrily.

Brant warily glanced at Ben. Turning around, he said, "It was a pleasure to fight you as always, Nature," and disappeared in a flash of orange light.


	3. Chapter 3: The Intro

Disclaimer: I love Ben 10 and Ben 10: Alien Force and I love it and stuff, but it's not mine which can sometimes suck.

A/N: Them/They and stuff like, yeah that means that I'm talking about The Four. Also, Kevin has a phone in this story, so, um, yeah.

Chapter 3: The

"So you're dad wants you back home, huh?" Kevin asked once Brant has left.

"Yeah. He didn't really like the whole possibility of me being one of The Four," Nature explained. "He didn't really approve of me fighting, either. He said fighting and protecting was a man's job, and a woman's place is in the home."

"How sexist of your dad!" Gwen said.

Nature nodded in agreement. "And to make matters worse, everyone agreed with him that I wasn't one of Them. 'Guys should be saving Heart, not little girls'. But he forgets that I'm not a little girl. I guess you could say he's really protective."

"Sounds like it," Ben agreed.

"So this Brand guy says that you can take on anyone from your planet?" Kevin asked.

"His name is Brant, but yeah," Nature said. "But my team is truly unstoppable. We've never lost, well, except once, in the beginning, when I was the leader."

"What happened?" Gwen asked.

"I rather not talk about it." She looked away. "It kinda still hurts, ya know?" Gwen nodded in sympathy.

"Hey, Tennyson!" Kevin called while looking at his phone, "don't you have a curfew to meet?"

"Thanks a lot, Kevin," Ben groaned. "Well, we better get going before my parents blow their heads off."

"Come on, Nature, you can sleep at my house," Gwen invited. She nodded her thanks as she got into the car.

She flicked the light on and walked into her room. "You can sleep up here or downstairs, it doesn't really matter," Gwen said. The two girls were at Gwen's house with Gwen showing Nature around. After telling her parents that Nature and her had some more work to do on a school project, they readily agreed to letting her spend the night.

"Up here is fine," Nature said. "That is, if you don't mind."

"It's okay." Gwen laid out her old sleeping bag, a blanket, and a pillow. "I'm not sure how comfortable it's going to be, but it should be okay until we can find you somewhere else for you to stay."

The two girls got ready for bed. When they were ready, Gwen climbed into her bed and Nature slipped into the sleeping bag. "Goodnight, Nature," Gwen said before she turned out the light.

" 'Night Gwen," Nature said. After a few minutes of silence, Gwen asked,  
"Do you miss your family?"

It was silent for a while. Gwen assumed that she had fallen asleep before she responded. "Yeah, but, I kind of have to do this, ya know? I have to prove that I am one of Them, and I have to prove to my dad that I can take care of myself. Plus, I think fighting aliens is fun, kind of like Ben. For me, it's kind of like one of those stress balls. Getting all of my anger out in an efficient way; it's a win-win situation. Any more questions?" she asked.

"No, I'm good," Gwen said. "Goodnight."

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_ Gwen's alarm clock was blaring. She groggily hit the 'Off' button before getting up. "Morning, Nature," she said but didn't get any answer. "Nature?" she asked. Gwen looked at the floor and realized that she wasn't there! She hurried to the window to see if she was on the street. Gwen found her, but not on the street. "What are you doing?"

"Watching the sunrise followed by agoy; I do it everyday," Nature calmly said. "It's a great way to start the day, don't you think?"

"Um, sure, but what's agoy?"

"Like your yoga, just different. It helps awaken our powers and bodies and prepares us for the day."

"Oh. Well, I have to get ready for school. You should probably, too. I have an extra uniform in the closet that you can wear. I think it'll fit." Gwen surveyed Nature's body.

Nature climbed back inside the room. "Okay." Gwen walked to her closet and pulled out an old uniform.  
"Here, put this on," she ordered while walking to her bathroom to give her some privacy and to get ready. When she came back, Nature was all ready to go. "Kevin's going to pick us up in about ten minutes. That should be enough time to eat breakfast and stuff. When we get to school, we'll walk to the main office and say that you're new. We'll sign you up, get your schedule, and I'll show you everything. It'll be fine." Nature could only nod her head. Gwen walked downstairs and made the two breakfast. They ate in silence. _Honk!_ "That's Kevin!" Gwen said excitedly. She took a quick look in the hall mirror before smoothing out her hair and straightening her clothes. "Are you coming or not?" Nature followed right behind Gwen.  
"I know you like him, it's okay," Nature said.  
"Who?"  
"Kevin."

Gwen blushed. "No I don't."

Nature shook her head. "It's obvious." She continued to walk to the car and get in the backseat while Gwen just stood there.

"Are you coming or not, Gwen?" Kevin called.

"I do not like him," she murmured under her breath before heading to the car and getting in the front.

After a drive of silence, Kevin pulled up at the school. As usual, a flock of girls were waiting for him. "You, um, might want to get out now and make a run for it," Kevin told the girls. "Once you're out, I'm outta here. These girls sometimes give me the creeps. I'll pick you guys up after school."

"Don't forget Ben!" Gwen reminded the raven-haired teen. They climbed out of the car and ran to the main office.

"Why, hello Gwen," said a sunny-faced secretary. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm fine, Mrs. Ptasien," Gwen responded.

"That's good. What can I do for you?"

Gwen looked at Nature. "My...cousin is going to be here for a while and my mom asked if it would be okay to enroll her here. I told her it wouldn't be a problem."

"Well, that's fabulous! What's your name dear?"Mrs. Ptasien asked Nature

"Nature."

"Well, that's quite, unusual," she stumbled before gaining composer. "Come on back and I'll have you tested. Don't worry, it's just to help us place you in the classes that will challenge you the most. Now follow me and Gwen, please stay out here, I don't want to freak her out."

"Of course."

Gwen sat down in a chair and waited for the results and her "cousin" to come out. A few minutes later, a pale looking Mrs. Ptasien came out with a pleased Nature. "What's wrong?" Gwen asked. She didn't think that Nature would be a trickster, but Gwen hasn't known her for that long.

"Nothing," Mrs. Ptasien said, quite shaken by whatever happened. "It's just, you're cousin, Gwen, is quite remarkable. She's, she's, she's a genius by our standards. She should be in college, maybe even working on some scientific study. I don't know. All I know is that she doesn't need to be here."

"But, she _needs_ to!" Gwen pleaded.

The older woman sighed. "Alright, Gwen." She turned to the other girl. "I just want you to know that none of your classes will be challenging and if you ever get bored, come talk to me. We'll figure something out."

"Of course, Mrs. Ptasien," Nature responded with ease. There was a hint of a smile and laughter in her eyes that was barely concealed.

The two girls walked out of the office with Nature's schedule and books in hand. "Why didn't you tell me that you were a genius?"

"I'm not," she said. "That's the average IQ for Heart."

"Oh."


	4. Chapter 4: The Second Meeting

Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own.

Chapter 4: The Second Meeting

"Where is she, Brant?" a man asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, she won't come home," Brant answered.

The man sighed and rubbed his temples. "Don't call me sir. We've been friends for far too long."

"Of course." Brant bowed his head. "Your daughter has given me a message for you. She says she's not done and she won't be done or return home until she finds them. She doesn't want you to send anyone or anything after her. She doesn't want you to worry, that she can handle herself. She'll be home soon, she promises. She also says that Destiny was right, she is the chosen one. Nature wants everyone to know that she was right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go see her team."  
The man sighed. "Alright. Thanks you old friend. You may go."

Brant nodded and scurried out of the dimly lit room. Down the stone hallway, turn right at the statue, down another hallway and a flight of stairs, left at the flag, a quick right, push the loose stone, and walk through the wall where he met a wolf. "Calm down, Kenya," he said.

"Brrrrrrrant!" the wolf howled.

"Nice to see you too," Brant said once to the wolf who morphed back into a human. A girl with black hair and purple eyes stood before him.

"Where's Nature? I thought you were going to bring her back?" Brant ignored her and walked into a room which was unoriginally called The Room.

Three guys were sitting doing various things. One with blonde hair and blue eyes was at something that looked similar to a computer looking up something, most likely old records. Another with brown hair and green eyes looked like he could pass as Ben's older brother. He was sitting and watching or concentrating on the moving objects in front of him. The last had dirty blonde hair and gold eyes. He was flipping through a heavy, old book and looked like he did not want to be disturbed. Brant had other things in mind.

"Tsiyone! Jarlath! Artaxiad! Gather 'round! I've got news." Two came over but the last one, the one with the gold eyes, decided otherwise. "Artaxiad!" Brant called again. The boy called Artaxiad shot a stream of bright yellow at Brant. Jarlath, the Ben look-a-like, stopped the stream using nothing and Tsiyone, the blonde with blue eyes, smashed it into tiny pieces. Kenya came bounding in seconds later.

"No spell book is gonna bring her back, dude," Tsiyone said. "You can't force her by using some stupid spell. Besides, I believe Destiny: I think Nature is one of Them.

"I don't know why she would just leave and do this by herself," Artaxiad admitted sadly. "What if she needs our help or something? No one's going to save her if she gets caught! No one will know!"

Kenya spoke, "She can take care of herself. Plus, she'll have the other three to help her out if she does get caught."

"We know you're worried about her, man," Jarlath said comfortingly. "We are too. We all wish we could help her out but she doesn't want us to. We're her friends. The best we can do is support her and let her come home when she wants to. If she needs our help she'll let us know, I know she will."

"Plus, Nature believes she has found the others," added Brant. "She should be returning with them soon."  
"Hold up," Kenya stopped. "She thinks she already found them? When is she gonna bring them?"

"Once she knows," Brant assured. "They can fight, but will need training."

"Why can't three of us be the others?" Artaxiad argued. "Maybe we really can save the universe. Maybe even all five of us."

"That's not the way it goes," Jarlath said.

"Yeah," agreed Tsiyone, "and I totally dig the whole I-miss-her moment you're giving us without even realizing it.

"What are you talking about?" Artaxiad asked.

"You totally like her," Tsiyone said.  
Artaxiad shook his head. "Yeah you do," Kenya added. Jarlath nodded his head.

Artaxiad scoffed at his friends. "I do not! We're friends like you three."  
Brant stepped in before they started fighting. "Let's not discuss this now. You have training and we need to work on some new attacks since Nature isn't here." Artaxiad started to walk to the opposite door of the training room but Brant stopped him. "Turn around and walk," he warned, his red eyes getting redder by the minute.

Artaxiad turned to the rest of the team who were smart and were heading to train. "You guys go ahead. I'll be back in a couple of days." He pushed past Brant and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Kenya asked.

"To go find Nature. She's somewhere on Earth and I have to tell her something."

"Don't you dare put a spell on her or something to make her feel guilty to make her come back," Jarlath warned.

"And if she did find the others, don't beat the crap out of them either," Tsiyone yelled.

Artaxiad raised his hand and waved away all of their worries. He would be fine. He knew that, they knew that, everyone knew that.

* * *

The parking lot was crawling with students that had just gotten let out. The last bell of the day had rung and already Kevin's car was surrounded by girls. Gwen clenched and unclenched her hands trying to calm down. "You so like him," Nature said. Gwen glared at her. "Alright, calm down. Let me just get them out of your way." She raised her arms to summon wind but Gwen stopped her.

"You can't let everyone know what you can do. It's dangerous."

"Fine." Nature crossed her arms over her chest in defeat.

"Good. Now just follow my lead," Gwen instructed. Nature nodded her head and followed Gwen to Kevin's car. She climbed into the back while Gwen did the same in the front. The girls had backed away and glared at the two girls. Nature shrugged and Gwen looked ahead. Kevin pulled out of the lot when Gwen finally relaxed.

"Yeah, you so like him," Nature said with a smirk.

"I do not!" Gwen fought. "And can we please not talk about this now?"

"Fine," she said, " but remember, I'm right."

It was quiet the rest of the way to Ben's school. When he got in, they drove to Mr. Smoothies. Despite the battle earlier in the week with Brant, everything looked the same as it always had.

"Man, they fix up fast," commented Kevin.

"What else do you think they do with all the money I spend here?" Ben asked his friend.

"He's got a point," Gwen said. Ben got the smoothies and a soda for Kevin and came back. While the teens were talking, two guys walked up to them.

"Ben, Gwen, Kevin, pretty girl I've never seen before," Cash said.

"Cash, J.T.," Ben said coolly.

"What do you want?" Kevin said in a dangerously low voice.

"I was just wondering if the pretty girl who's wasting her time with you losers wanted to hang out with someone cool," Cash said.

"Look," Gwen said, "great that you think my cousin—"

"Cousin?" Ben asked. Kevin hit him in the arm telling him to shut up. "Right, cousin," he recovered.

"Is pretty," continued Gwen, "but she's really not interested in you."  
"Don't you think she can speak for herself?" J.T. said, defending his friend.  
"I can, but Gwen is right," Nature said for the first time. "I'm not interested."

"I can make you interested," he said, trying to be seductive but in fact sounding really creepy. Cash put his arm around her waits and Nature tried to push him away. His grip tightened when she struggled. She remembered what Gwen told her about not using her powers.

"I thought she told you already. She's. Not. Interested." Cash opened his mouth to say something but let out a scream instead. He almost hit the wall had it not been for a large vine which stopped him. A gold streak had blasted him.

"Morningstar!" Kevin yelled out at the same time as Nature called, "Artaxiad!"

"Who?" Ben said with a dazed look on his face from what had just happened.  
"Nature!" A tall man with dirty blonde hair and gold eyes yelled back in an excited voice.

"Oh my god!" Nature ran over to him but was stopped by a wall of pink. She broke it using fire and continued to run.

"Nature! You don't know—" But she didn't hear. Artaxiad was here and Nature was happy.

"I can't believe I found you," he whispered into her ear after spinning her around in a circle and grabbing her in a hug.

"I can't believe you're here," she whispered back.

"There is so much to tell you," he said.

"I know." Nature pulled back and looked into his eyes. "But you shouldn't be here. I told you I need to do this by myself."

"I know. Everyone tried telling me that before I left."

"Everyone? Even Brant?" She was silent when realization hit her. "You left?"

Artaxiad shrugged. "Everyone, even Brant. He may not be happy that I skipped out on training but," he trailed off.

"You are going to have your ass kicked from here to halfway across the galaxy, you know that?" Nature warned.

"Yeah, but I got to see you and right now that's all that matters." He pulled her back into a hug and stood there until Ben cleared his throat quite loudly.

"Sorry," Nature said while pulling away again. Ben felt pleased with the action. He didn't like Artaxiad, something was wrong with him.

"Guys, this is my friend and teammate, Artaxiad. He's not a Plumber but comes from Heart, like me. He can control, generate, and absorb light. Artaxiad, this is Ben, Gwen, his cousin, and Kevin." She pointed to the three as she said their names.

"Let me guess, these are the others?"

Nature nodded. "I hope."

"Yeah, me too." He wrapped his arm around her waist an Ben narrowed his eyes. HE definitely didn't like this guy.

Turning to the group, Nature told them, "Can you guys go? Me and Artaxiad need to talk. I'll find my way back. No need to wait. I know Gwen has a ton of homework, anyways."

"Alright. Be careful," Gwen said.

Nature nodded. "I always am."

They walked away and she led Artaxiad to a table.

"Okay, so why did you come even when I asked you not to?"

* * *

Hey guys! This chapter is up! Finally! I'm working on Chapter 5 so hopefully it won't take so long this time. Yeah, sorry about that. Anyways, it's time for COMMENTS ANSWERED!!! Basically, the part of the story where I respond to everyone's comments. Here we go!

A.t-- Thanks for reading!

lykeomgsrsly-- I understand. But I'm not quite sure what you mean by more. Like, write longer chapters or update faster? Thanks for the compliments. I've never written battle scenes until now so I'm glad it was good enough that you liked it.

Sweet Nightmare's Good Byes-- Thanks!

Well, that's it for now. Comment and review/rate below. I wanna know what you think! Any ideas? Let me know. Any concerns about anything, let me know. I'm also taking request so if you want me to write something, I'll do it. Just PM me and I'll respond back as fast as I can. Thanks!

Until next time,  
Writingaddict169


	5. Chapter 5: The Rest of the Team

Disclaimer: I have no rights.

Chapter 5: The Rest of the Team

"I don't like Arthur. Something's not right about him," Ben said. The three were in the car and driving to Ben's house. They'd left Mr. Smoothies once Nature had pulled Artaxiad away to a table.

"Ben, his name is Artaxiad," informed Gwen. "Besides, yeah we just met him but it seems like Nature's known him for a long time."  
"Yeah," agreed Kevin, "and I think she can take care of herself. You heard her when she was fighting Brant: she can take on anyone on Heart and I'm pretty sure Artaxiad is from Heart; said so herself."  
"But if he's not who she thinks he is!" protested Ben. "He could be a shape-shifter not from Heart! She could be in serious trouble!"  
"Ben, you worry too much," Kevin said.

"Just relax," said Gwen. "She'll be okay."

Ben looked out the window at the passing houses. When the car stopped at his, he got out and slammed the door shut before Gwen or Kevin could say goodbye. (As if Kevin would).

"Think he'll be okay?" worried Gwen."

Kevin pulled out of the driveway before he answered. "Yeah, he always is."

"What if he goes back?"

"Okay, Mom," Kevin joked, "we'll do a stake out just in case."

"That twerp!" Brant screamed. "I'm going to kick his ass from her to halfway across the galaxy!"

"Calm down, he'll be back," said Kenya.

"He better not come back," Tsiyone said. "you heard what Brant said. If his ass is kicked to anywhere but here, we're really screwed." Kenya and Jarlath looked at each other. "First losing Nature and then Artaxiad, we are going to go down in the ranks!"

"I fee ya, man," Jarlath said.

"At least we know where he is," pointed out Kenya. "We could always go there and get him."

"Brilliant!" The teenagers glanced at the elder. "We'll go to Earth, grab Artaxiad, and come back here to let Nature continue on her way. Meanwhile, we tie him down and punish him with some form of torture!" While Brant went off to make plans, Kenya, Jarlath, and Tsiyone sat.

"No matter what he says, he loves her," Tsiyone said.

"Who?" asked Jarlath.

"Artaxiad and Nature smart," Kenya said. "And she likes him back."  
"Whoa, that new," Tsiyone commented.

"No really," Jarlath disagreed. "I could see it."

"But what's gonna happen with the rest of the prophecy?" Tsiyone asked. "What happens then?"  
"Things are going to get ugly," muttered Jarlath.

Back on Earth at a particular Mr. Smoothies, two teenagers were sitting at a table. The boy had finished talking the girl a story. She groaned. "You are so dead."  
He threw his hands in the air. "What was I suppose to do?"

"Um, maybe listen to me and stay?" Nature suggested.

"How could I? You're my best friend!" Artaxiad protested.

"And you're mine!" she explained. "But you know what's going to happen if I am right with these three."

"I know," he said solemnly, "and I"m prepared for it. Everyone thinks we should be together but I disagree." He was lying through his teeth. Nature knew that but wasn't quite sure what he really wanted to say, what he really meant.

"I know. Me too." Now both of them were lying, neither knowing what the other was lying about.

"Hello, Ben," Carl welcomed, looking up from the paper.

"Hey," he said back. "I'll be up in my room." His dad nodded and continued to read the paper. He ran up the stairs to his room where, for the possibly first time, he tried to do his homework. He tried, hoping it would get the picture of Nature and that, that, guy hugging and having his arm around her waist out of his head.

"Arg!" he cried in frustration. "What does that guy have that I don't?"

"Charm, good looks, not to mention the ability to show a girl how much he cares about her."  
Ben whipped around. "Kevin? What are you doing? How'd you get in here? Where's Gwen?"

Kevin put his hands up in mock surrender. "Gwen's home, got in through the window which you might have to fix, and I'm here to make sure you don't run off and try and be Prince Charming."  
Ben knew that there was no point in arguing so he let out a sigh instead. "Just to let you know, you're not so great at sharing your feelings, either," Ben pointed out.

"Hey, what have I told you? I don't want to hurt Gwen."

"You never told me that." Kevin slapped his forehead and muttered to himself while throwing in some "colorful" language. "You know what, I'm going to go to Mr. Smoothies and get something. You want anything?" Ben offered.

"Oh, no," Kevin said, "you are not going anywhere. You will stay right here young man."

"What are you? My father?" Ben shot.

"If that means Gwen's your mom then yes." Ben smirked at his friend who slapped his forehead again while mumbling, "Why do I always say the stupidest things?"

Clicking the Omnitrix, Ben found Jetray and slammed on the watch's face hard. "Ben, don't even think about it!" _Too late,_ he thought, smirking. He flew out the window in the direction of his favorite fast food joint.

Kevin jumped out of Ben's window, landing on the ground with a hard thud. Running to his car, he jumped in and started it. "He did not," Gwen said.

Kevin looked over at the passenger seat. "He did."

She sighed loudly. "Let's go."

"Don't need to tell me twice."

"Thanks for coming," Nature said.

"No problem," Artaxiad said. "I'm glad you let me stay."

"You know I can never say no to you." He hugged his long-time friend. _This is how it's suppose to be,_ he thought. Hearing a noise, Artaxiad looked up and noticed something flying at them.

"Duck!" he yelled, bringing Nature down with him. Looking up, she noticed it was Jetray, a.k.a., Ben.  
"It's okay," she said. "It's just Ben." She looked him in the eyes when she realized he was on top of her. "Um, we should probably get up."

Understanding what she meant, Artaxiad got up, blushing. Dusting themselves off, Ben swooped in landing right next to them. For some reason, his heart stopped beating, seeing them together.  
"Come on, Nature, we should probably get you home," Ben said.

"Ben, why are you here? I told you I can get to Gwen's house by myself," said Nature, her face hardening with anger. "I'm capable of doing things myself."

"I know, but I was worried," he admitted. Her face softened. "No offense," he said, turning to Artaxiad, "but I just don't like you. I don't trust you, maybe, would be a better term."

"None taken as seeing the feeling is mutual."

Nature threw her hands up in frustration. "Why do I even bother?"

A car squealed into the parking lot with Kevin and Gwen climbing out. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked. "Are you stalking me?"

Gwen sighed. "Yes, Ben, your own cousin is stalking you because she has nothing else to do on a Monday night. That makes total sense."

"Just asking," he complained.

"Look," Artaxiad said, turning to Nature, "I should probably get back to Heart before—"

"Artaxiad!"

"Brant comes," he finished his sentence.

The group of five looked up to see Brant and three others descend from the skies. Other people glanced at the four aliens and decided not to run away screaming for their lives. After all, it wasn't unusual for something like this to happen in the parking lot of Mr. Smoothies anymore.

"Um, hi Brant," Nature said nervously. "What brings you to Earth?"

"Funny as it seems that you already have what I want," he said.

"Really? Um, what would that be?" Nature asked, playing dumb.

Brant opened his mouth when everyone heard a scream. "NATURE!!!!!!!!!"

A girl with black hair jumped on Nature, tackling her to the ground. Kenya transformed into a little a puppy and began licking her face.

"Okay, okay," she said, putting her hands up in surrender. She tried to push Kenya off and when that didn't work, Artaxiad lifted the dog off of her. Kenya instantly transformed back, causing Artaxiad to grunt at the sudden weight and let go. "It's great to see you."

"Nature!" yelled two more guys, one who looked like Ben's twin and another one with blonde hair. They swooped her up and gave her a huge bear hug.

"Hey, guys," she said in a strangled voice. It certainly didn't help that Tsiyone was incredibly strong. When they finally let go, Brant came up and hugged her gently. After all, he knew what it felt like to be hugged by Tsiyone and it is not a good feeling.

"Um, what going on?" Ben asked. Kevin, Gwen, and himself had been staring and couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on.

"Right, sorry," Nature said, getting out of Brant's embrace. "Ben, Gwen, Kevin, this is Kenya, Tsiyone, and Jarlath; and you already know Brant and Artaxiad." She pointed at them when she said their names, respectively. "Guys, this is Ben, Gwen, and Kevin," she introduced the three teens.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is your old team?" Gwen asked.

Nature nodded. "Yea, but I wouldn't use the word 'old'," she chuckled, "They're the same age as you."

"So if they're on your team, what do they do?" asked Ben.

"Tsiyone is super strong and can fly, Jarlath uses telekinesis, and Kenya, as you've seen, can change into different animals and aliens," Artaxiad answered. "And you already know what Brant and I do."

"Gee, Nature, you're fantastic at ventriloquism," Ben said sarcasticly.

"Ben," warned his cousin.

"What?" Gwen hit him in the arm. "Thanks," he muttered.

"So, since you're here, why not tell us why you're here," Kevin said.

"I told you that already," Brant huffed. "Humans are much worse than they say."  
"Hey!"

"He didn't tell you anything," Nature said.

"Yeah," agreed Artaxiad, "he's just here to take me back so Nature can continue her mission by herself."  
"What is your mission?" Gwen asked. "I know it has something to do with us, but you've never really gone into detail."

"Because you'd say no," she explained. "But since they're here, you might as well here what it is. After all, it's as much as my mission as it is yours."

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry it took me sooo long. I keep getting distracted on the computer which is quite a miserable trait I have. But can you blame me? Who doesn't get distracted by the Internet?? I'll try and be better but what can I say, as amazing as the Internet is, it makes me quite distracted.

Now it's time for: COMMENTS TIME!!!

a.t: Okay, I'm going to take a whack at this and say that when you copy a part of the story as a comment, you like it. Am I right? Let me know.

Sweet Nightmare's Good Byes ( Now Sayonara Yasashii Akumu): Last chapter was kinda long. I hope this is better, though.

Thanks to everyone who R&R, even if you only did one of them. But you can make it up by R&R--ing this time! Let me know what you, comments, questions, concerns, things you wanna see happen, I really don't care. Thanks for reading and to those who commented!

Until next chapter,

Writingaddict169


	6. Chapter 6: The Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Cartoon Network, or the characters Ben, Gwen, and Kevin along with Mr. Smoothies. I also do not know Man of Action.

Chapter 6: The Prophecy

Kevin's car sped along the highway. Nature, Tsiyone, Kenya, and Artaxiad were flying high above the car, following. Luckily, no cars were in sight. The car pulled off onto the side and squealing to a halt. Nature, Tsiyone, Kenya, and Artaxiad landed next to it. Kenya transformed back to her human self; the five that were in the car climbed out.

"Okay, so this prophecy," Kevin prompted while sitting delicately on the hood of his car.

"Yes," Brant said. "Where to begin?"

"How about at the beginning?" Artaxiad suggested sarcastically. Brant shot him a look; Artaxiad shrugged.

"A long time ago," Brant said, "when our planet was first colonized a few thousand years ago, Ave, our leader and one of Nature's ancestors, was given a prophecy. It said, 'When the universe is in trouble/Four will rise/To the power/And save us all'. We never knew who The Four would be or if they would be one of our own. All we knew was that they would not only save us, but the entire universe, from some great power. Nature always thought that she was one of them, but could never prove it. No one believes that she is one of them, except Destiny. Not to mention the fact that we see no threat in any of galaxies in this half of the universe."  
"What about the other half?" Ben asked.

"We don't have connections there," Brant said bluntly. "We tend to not get along with the others, anyhow. And why would we? We only care about our half, they only care about theirs."

Gwen had been strangely quiet until then. "Nature called us Three of The Four. Does that mean that you think we're the rest of the prophecy?" she asked, directing the question towards Nature. "Do you honestly think it's the three of us?"

Nature hesitated before speaking, "At first I thought that the other three would be either Artaxiad, Kenya, Tsiyone, or Jarlath. And I thought I was right. That is, until Destiny told me to go and look for you. She never said where you were or who you were, but I had a feeling she knew. While I searched, I couldn't help but think maybe I wasn't the one, it was all a huge joke that I wasn't in on. But then I remembered the promise I made to myself: I wasn't going home until I proved everyone wrong, and my grandmother and I that we were right. Once I convinced myself of that, I got this feeling that Artaxiad, Kenya, Tsiyone, and Jarlath weren't even one of them." She took a deep breath.

"So I kept going. At one of the space stops, I heard how the Highbreed had been stopped by these people on Earth. I thought how strange it was, that normal people could stop such controlling aliens. I asked for more information and the alien told me that Ben Tennyson and a couple of others had stopped them from not only invading Earth, but from other planets as well."

"Great," mumbled Kevin, "more fuel to add to his fire."

"I quickly left the stop and headed here. Once I landed, I saw the DNAliens digging into the ground so I figured I had better stop them. I was doing pretty well, until you guys came along."

"Hey!" Ben exploded. "You needed the help! If we hadn't come along, you would have been dead!"

The other aliens laughed out loud, including Nature and Brant. They were all in hysterics. "I...can't...believe...you...fell...for...that," Artaxiad gasped between his laughter. "She...was...totally...playing...with...you..."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked threateningly.

"I was trying to see how well you would do," Nature explained once she had stopped laughing.

"Yeah," Jarlath agreed. "She could've kicked their butts within seconds! We always battle much worse, if not, much more. I'm sure it was nothing."

"But there must have been at least a hundred!" argued Gwen.

"Your point?" asked Kenya.

"The point is," Kevin said, "that there is no way she could have possibly handled them all. Between the three of us, we barely won."

"But you didn't win," Artaxiad said. "They heard their master call for them, so they left to do his bidding. Did you actually call that a victory?"

Ben bristled. "Yes."

"Then you have another thought coming for you," Jarlath commented, "if you thought that was hard. We need to do something about it. Maybe put them on our training course?" His mouth was immediately covered by a band of water.

"No way!" Brant said. "There is no way they could handle it."

"But if they are the others," said Tsiyone, "they'll be able to keep up."

"Tsiyone has a point," Nature agreed. "Although, at the same time, I'm not convinced they would survive, much less improve."

"I agree with Nature," Artaxiad said.

"Of course you do," muttered Ben. As every second passed by, Ben was getting more annoyed with Artaxiad. Not just the way he acted, but everything else. More than once, he had caught him staring at Nature who in turn smiled back at him every time.

"No," Brant argued. "We will not try, they will not try. End of discussion."

"Well I say we do it," Kevin said. "We can handle it."

"I thought I said 'end of discussion'?" Brant said again. "We will not talk about it anymore. And you five," he said, turning to Nature, Jarlath, Tsiyone, Kenya, and Artaxiad, "will not tell them any more, give them permission, or train with them until we talk." Turning away, Brant commanded, "Let's go."

Jarlath, Tsiyone, Kenya, and Artaxiad followed but Nature stayed where she was. She was debating whether she should stay or go. They wouldn't talk until the next day but she had no idea where they were going. She decided to follow them, confident that she would find the three confused humans again.

* * *

Hey guys! I think I'm getting better with this 'update every week' thing I said I would do. So, another chapter done, another one to work on. Anyways, what did you think? I love to hear your commments, questions, concerns, or fave moments. Let me know by clicking on the grey/green button BELOW! Now it's...  
COMMENTS TIME!!!!!!!

girlnextdoor14--Thank you so much! I can't wait for the crossover either!

That's it for this time. Please comment on this story, hearing from you is totally awesome and makes my day. You really don't know how much a comment means until you start writing FanFics. PLEASE PLEASE comment!!!! Or I will get Kevin to run his car over you :) Enjoy your day!

Until the next chapter,

Writingaddict169


	7. Chapter 7: The Kiss

Disclaimer: I don't own it...yet

Chapter 7

"Nature, would you mind starting a fire?" Kenya asked. "I'm a little cold."

"No problem," she said. Some driftwood came up from the ground and formed a perfect tee-pee. The extra wood stacked perfectly on the side. Throwing a small fireball, Nature had lit the wood on fire. Kenya transformed into a little kitten and purred her thanks.

"We're back!" Jarlath called.

"Yeah, and we got food!" Tsiyone said.

"You know, I could've done that myself," said Nature.

"You always ruin our fun," Artaxiad muttered. She laughed again.

Kenya transformed back into a human so she could eat the random food they had brought back. Fish and berries. **(A/N: I didn't know what they would eat, much less find. I mean, Bellwood is a very diverse town/city with deserts a mile or two away even though the town/city itself is flourishing with plants and stuff. Anyways, on with the story!)**

After a quiet dinner, they all went to sleep. Nature had laid down close to the fire. Even though it was May, there was still a chill in the air from the past winter. With Kenya on one side and Artaxiad on the other, she couldn't help but think of the thousand times they had done something like this. Most of the time Brant wasn't there when they camped out, whether it was a training exercise or just because they wanted to sleep under the stars. This was only his second time and it was obvious he didn't like it. Nature guessed that either you liked sleeping outside or you didn't.

"Can't sleep?" She sucked in her breath in surprise. She rolled over so she was facing Artaxiad.

"Yea," she whispered.

"Wanna go take a walk?" Nature smiled. Leave it to Artaxiad to know what she wanted.

They quietly got up and snuck out of the cave. It was completely silent except for the water crashing against the shore of the beach. As they walked, footprints were left behind in the damp sand. A calm wind blew, blowing Nature's hair back and making Artaxiad's brush back out of his eyes. She smiled and sighed, full of content. _If only this moment could last forever,_ she thought to herself. Everything was perfect.

"What are we going to do?" Artaxiad glanced over at Nature. "I mean, can we really expect them to be the others? And if they are, can they withstand the training we've been doing for five years? If the three alone couldn't handle a couple of DNAliens, how can we expect them to fight whatever is coming?"

Nature sighed again, only this time it was filled with worry and stress. Artaxiad instinctively put an arm around her shoulders. "I don't know," she admitted. "I'm just as confused as you are." They stopped walking and she put her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her back, just like they had in the Mr. Smoothies parking lot. This time, however, wasn't a happy occasion.

Artaxiad put his chin against her head. He didn't know how long they stood there like that, but soon Nature's shoulders started to shake. This was the third time he had seen her cry since he had first met her ten years ago, when she was five and he six. Both times she had turned to him for comfort.

"I don't know what to do," she sobbed. "I feel like this is all for nothing, a complete waste of time. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they aren't the rest, maybe I'm not one of them. Maybe the prophecy is some sick joke someone a long time ago decided to play."

Artaxiad was shocked. Never had Nature sounded so downtrodden and heartbroken. Her whole life she believed that she was one of Them. One of The Four that was going to save the universe and now it sounded like she was giving it all away.

"Hey, don't think like that," Artaxiad said, trying to comfort her. "You are one of them and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Nature looked up at him. He noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. Streaks of tears stained her cheeks. Her eyes were shining wet with unshed tears. She spoke in such a low tone, that Artaxiad had to strain his ear to hear what she was saying. "Sometimes I wish The Four would be four of the five of us. It would be so easy."

"Yeah, well, nothing's ever easy," Artaxiad said. Nature gave a little laugh even though it wasn't funny. "But I know how you feel." She looked up at him, expecting him to continue. "I wish I was one. I always thought that, you know."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He let out a sigh. "You always dreamed of meeting other life forms, other people, who were going to save the world. You never imagined that I could be one of them."

Nature apologized, "Artaxiad, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." He shrugged. "As stupid as it is, I still think I'm one of Them, ya know? Like it's the two of us and two of them."

"Maybe it is," she said.

"Well," he looked over her shoulder at the water, "if I am or am not, I'll always be there at your side. I'm always going to watch your back, remember that."

"How could I ever forget?" she asked. Artaxiad looked back at her, their eyes meeting. Chocolate brown eyes on golden sun eyes. She leaned in, closing her eyes; he quickly leaned in, closing the gap between them. Their lips met briefly, both pulling away quickly. Too fast for Nature. She stood on her toes and kissed him again. Artaxiad was shocked but his love for her overcame anything else in his head or around him. He gently caressed her lips with his, not wanting to scare her. She pressed her lips harder against his, telling him not to back down. Her arms slid up his neck, hooked, and her hands tangled themselves in his hair. His hands slid down her body and wrapped around her back, pulling them closer together.

He ran his tongue along the bottom of her lip, asking for entrance. Her lips parted and he slid his tongue into her mouth. It felt weird, making out with her best friend, but there was always something telling her they were meant to be more. She just never listened to it.

After kissing for a few more minutes, they finally pulled apart, gasping for breath. Artaxiad pulled her into a hug. They laid down on the sand, falling asleep.

* * *

Hey guys! I'm done with Chapter 7 and will start working on Chapter 8 shortly. But for now it's COMMENTS TIME!!!!!

a.t--Thanks for reviewing and for the suggestions. I've read Pokemon Astra: The Guardian's Destiny and it's really good and Froslass is pretty good.

Ominous Blue--Thanks and I love your stories!

Well, that's it for comments. Please R&R if you enjoyed it, loved it, hated it, or want to flame it. Bring it!

Oh, and one more thing, check out this amazing band called CAPRA. They are so good and I personally love all of their songs, especially "Low Day". Check them out on Facebook and Twitter (I think they have a Twitter...).

Until next chapter,

Writingaddict169


	8. Chapter 8: The Decision

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8: The Decision

"Where are they?"

Kenya sighed. "Calm down, I'm sure they're off doing agoy together or something."

"Whatever."

They waited in silence for a few moments until Jarlath impatiently asked, "Where are they?"

"Where are who?"

The four of them turned to the opening of the cave to see Artaxiad and Nature walking in.

"You!" Brant cried. "Where were you guys?"

Artaxiad and Nature looked at each other and blurted out, "Doing agoy."

"Told ya," Kenya muttered.

"Whatever. We need to talk about what we're going to do about Ben, Gwen, and Kevin," Brant said. "Do we put them on the program or not. Pro: They'll be better fighters. Con: They won't be able to keep up. Pro: They'll use our equipment to get better and eat nice, healthy food. Con: They'll be on our planet and use our equipment. So," he looked around at the group, "what do we do?"

"Why don't we just train them here?" Tsiyone suggested. "It's close, they're use to it, they can tell us some of the best places to fight, and we're already here."

"True," Artaxiad said. "but we know almost nothing about this planet. They could lead us into a trap, they could pass out from exhaustion, they could die from lack of healthy food..."he trailed off, turning his gaze towards Brant, hoping to score some points on the healthy food part.

"But if Nature says they are the other Three," Kenya said, "then shouldn't we take the risk. They don't have to start where we are. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin can start at the bottom and quickly work their way up. What do you think Nature?"

With all eyes on her, Nature lowered her gaze to the floor of the cave. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "What if I'm wrong? What if this is all a huge mistake?"

"It's not a mistake," Artaxiad comforted, "if your gut is telling you you're right. So what's it telling you?"

It was quiet in the cave while Nature thought. "To teach them the basics. If they pass, they'll continue; if not, I move on and you guys go home."

Brant sighed, obviously not happy with the choice, but what could he do? Nature was pretty much in charge when it came to this kind of stuff, not him. And why would they listen to him? He was just a thirty-something year old man who still wasn't sure Nature was right in the head.

"Fine," he said, knowing this was already a lost cause. "We teach them. Basic, though, very basic stuff, and we'll take the time we need," he said, glaring at Jarlath whom he knew would want them to speed through their training. "We have plenty of time, seeing as how we don't even know what the threat is. Best we can do is train them with the basic knowledge and techniques. Once we find out what the threat is, we'll train them that way. And there is no way I'm letting you guys get off of your schedule, either. Train with them at night, train together during the day. Sound good?"

Everyone shook their heads and walked out of the cave to find Ben, Gwen, and Kevin their good news.

* * *

In a Mr. Smoothies parking lot, a green car with black racing stripes was parked while it waited for one of it's riders to come back with two smoothies and a soda.

"What is taking him so long?" complained Kevin.

"I don't know," said Gwen. "Why don't you go and see?"

Grumbling, Kevin climbed out of the car and headed toward the tiny building.

"Kevin!"

Without turning around, Kevin yelled, "What Gwen?"

"Sorry I'm not your girlfriend," a voice apologized. This time, Kevin turned around and saw the girl from yesterday, the one with the freaky purple eyes.

"Gwen is not my girlfriend," Kevin argued. "We're friends!"

"Riiiight," Kenya said, disbelieving him. "Whatever you say. Anyways, where's Ben and Gwen? We need to talk to you three."  
"Ben's inside and Gwen's in the car. I'll go get Ben."

Kenya nodded and headed towards the car while Kevin walked to the building. Once inside, Kevin spotted Ben at the counter and pulled him out of line just as he was about to order.

"What was that for?" Ben said angrily. "I was just about to order."

"Yeah, well, here's a new order. Someone changed their mind."

"Let me guess," he said, "Gwen wants a strawberry instead of mango, right?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "No! Remember the girl from yesterday with the purple eyes?" Ben nodded. "Well, she's back, and apparently, so are the rest. They want to talk to us about something."  
"You pulled me out of line to tell me this?" Ben asked.

"Um, yeah," Kevin said. "It's kind of important stuff Benji, in case you haven't noticed."

Ben sighed. "Fine. But let me get the smoothies first." He walked back to the cashier and placed his order. After getting the smoothies and soda for Kevin, the two walked back to Kevin's car where Gwen was along with Kenya, Jarlath, Tsiyone, Brant, Artaxiad, and Nature who were waiting with her.

"Okay, we're all here. Now, tell what you want," said Kevin. Gwen reached over and squeezed his hand. She had learned there was no other way to calm him down. Kenya smirked at Kevin who scowled back at her.

"We've decided," Brant said, "that we'll train you. But on our conditions," he added quickly. "You will train at night while they train during the day. You will listen to each of them and myself. No questions asked. If they say jump, you jump. If they say crawl, you crawl. If they say do a cartwheel, you do a cartwheel, got it?"  
Ben, Gwen, and Kevin hesitantly nodded. Ben suddenly wondered why they had wanted to do this in the first place.

"Since we're doing this," Gwen said, "care to fill us in on what we're suppose to save the universe from?"

"That's the thing," Jarlath said. "We don't know."  
"So let me get this straight," Ben said. "You want to train us, however that's going to work, for something that's coming that you have no idea what it is, right?"  
"That is correct," Brant answered.  
"Why does this seem like a big waste of my time?" Kevin asked.

"We've battled the Highbreed before," Gwen pointed out. "I don't think we need any 'training' to fight this, this, thing. Whatever it is."  
"You have no idea what you're going to be up against!" Artaxiad argued. "You need every trick, every move in the book that your little brains can handle!"  
"Artaxiad!" Kenya gasped. _Something is seriously up,_ she thought.

Nature put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward before any fists would fly. "Listen," she said calmly, "You have no idea what you're up against and neither do we. But we have a better idea of how to fight something that has large number or is extremely challenging. We won against some of the fiercest creatures out there; you wouldn't stand a chance. But we have, and here we are." She looked at the three humans. "So, you are going to listen to us, you will do what we say and when we say it, and you will do it how we want something done. We'll meet on the beach every night from 5:00 to 10:00 pm. for training. You'll come whether you want to or not, tired or full of energy. Is that clear?" Everyone was shocked by Nature's suddenly aggressive behavior.

"You know, we have something called homework and having life that we have to do," Ben said. "We can't skip out on that."

"But it seems like you do that already," Nature argued. "I don't see the problem."  
"She's right, Ben," Gwen said. "We might as well."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed. "Not that you have a life or anything."  
"Shut up, Kevin!" Gwen said in a tired voice. Ben stuck out his tongue and Kevin made a fist to punch him in the face. Both were surrounded by pink bubbles instantly.

"Alright," Brant said, "It seems like we have an agreement. Be at the beach at 5:00 sharp. If you're one second late, extra laps."

* * *

They sat in the cave next to each other, silent. The others were out catching fish even though she could get it for them in her sleep.  
"What's wrong?" She looked over to see her best friend staring at the fire intently.

She let out a heavy sigh. "Us." He didn't ask for information, but she knew he was curious. "You know the rest of the prophecy?"

"Which part?" he asked.

"You know the part." He was making this harder than it already was, and she hadn't even started to explain anything yet! " 'The First and Second shall be together/As will the Third and Fourth/Anything previously felt for another/Will dissolve into nothing.' It means– –"

"I know what it means!" he yelled. "Do you think I don't? Do you think I haven't thought about it since last night? It's been driving me crazy! But you don't know which one you are. You don't know if I'm one of Them. You don't even know if you're right!"

Nature felt tears flowing down her face freely; she had never felt them pooling in her eyes. "But if I am, what am I suppose to do? I can't just leave you like this! We've liked each other since forever! How can I change how I feel? I'm not going to do it on purpose!"

"I've seen the way Ben looks at you," he whispered.

"You don't know if—"

"Yes, I do!" Artaxiad yelled again. "It's obvious!"

"Maybe I'm going to be stuck with Kevin!"

"That guy?" He let out a dry laugh. "Yeah, right. He's with Gwen, which leaves you and Ben. What do you say to that?"  
"I say you're crazy. I can't fall in love with Ben; he can't be my other half. I already told you I'm in love with you!"  
"Yeah? Well, if you're right about them, then you'll be stuck with Ben."  
"Why do you have to make him the bad guy here?"  
"He's not the only one!" he yelled.

"And what's that suppose to mean?" she screamed back at him. "It's my fault too?" She choked on her words. She was having a hard time of yelling at her best friend and crying. "It's not my fault I was chosen. And don't say I have no idea because it's starting to feel like I am. But I didn't chose this, I wanted it yes, but I never chose it! How can it by my fault and Ben's? You never met Ben until recently and you've known me your entire life basically. How can you say it's our fault?"

"You have no idea what it's like," Artaxiad muttered.

"Really? About what?" When he didn't answer, Nature spoke again. "Really. Go ahead and enlighten me. I'm all ears."

"Do you really have to be so sarcastic?" he asked. "All I've heard from you is how much you wanted to be one of The Four. All the times you pretend you were fighting whatever is was, every time you talked about, even the time you told your dad what you were going to do and how mad he was at you! You came to me to talk to me about it all."

"Because I trusted you!"  
"Oh, so now you don't trust me?" He narrowed his eyes, willing her to watch what she said.

"I still do!" she cried. "You never once complained. How was I suppose to know you were sick and tired of hearing everything. And as for my dad, you would have done the same thing if you were me. Don't even try and deny it!"

"I was being a good friend," he shot back. "Because good friends listen to the other when they're talking and upset. But good friends also shut up and let the other talk! It's not always about you!"

"Did I ever say it was?"  
"No, but now you don't have to. You showing it perfectly."

She couldn't take it anymore. She threw something at him blindly and ran out of the cave. Her tears had been falling faster than they had before. She dashed across the beach when she ran into Tsiyone.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked, gripping her arms tightly so she wouldn't run away.

She couldn't say anything, not with how hard she was crying. She twisted and turned, trying to get out of her friend's strong grasp. Seeing how he wasn't going to get an answer, he let her go and watched her run down the beach, towards the setting sun.

* * *

Hey guys! I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated in weeks! I feel like a loser and a terrible person :( :( :( But the good news is that I updated and one more week until Spring Break! I promise I'll update quite a bit because I have no school for a week. Maybe I'll even finish my SkyxSyd SongFic. Wouldn't that be awesome?!?!?! Too bad that won't happen. Sorry. BTW, sorry if the propechy poems aren't that great. I'm not really a poet, even though I try. Anyways, it's: COMMENTS TIME!!!

batgirl45345--Thanks for reading my story! I'm working on the Ben/Nature romance thing. As for Artaxiad, well, I guess you got your wish! ;) Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you like it.

Well, that's it. How sad is that? Extremely sad :( I really have nothing else to say but click review for comments, questions, concerns, and/or answers. (For what, I have no idea.)

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	9. Chapter 9: The Smoothie

Disclaimer: I don't own anything....yet....

Chapter 9: The Smoothie

After running for what seemed like hours, Nature found a rock by the water and sat down on it. Sobs racked her body and she couldn't stop the tears. It was like Niagara Falls decided to transfer its water into her tears. Her heart felt like it was broken in half. But she was right. She couldn't make her heart stay with Artaxiad, because, secretly, she had been falling for Ben. He knew that, she knew that, it seemed like everybody knew that. But what could she do? It was part of the prophecy, her destiny, and now part of her life. There was no way she could avoid her growing feelings for Ben, nor her remaining feeling for Artaxiad, no matter how little they were.

Her eyes still blurry, she looked out at the ocean. Her tears had stopped but her face was still wet from the paths her tears had taken. For some reason, the ocean always calmed her, even on Heart. There was something about the rhythmic sounds of waves crashing and rolling. Something she didn't understand. Yet, she liked it. It gave her comfort knowing that at least one thing wasn't going to change.

* * *

It was the same set-up: Ben was drinking a smoothie, Kevin was fixing his car, and Gwen was reading a book. At least, that's what it looked like to the guys. If they were paying attention, they would have noticed Gwen was randomly flipping pages and not really reading at all. In fact, she was watching Kevin. She and everybody else knew she liked him; even Kevin himself. It was kind of obvious with her nagging him all the time about not asking her out.

Gwen watched Kevin for a little bit longer, before acting like she was reading when he came out from under the car. She turned her gaze to his face, waiting for him to speak the first word. But it was still silent. He smirked at her, that smirk he knew she liked. Yes, he knew Gwen liked him and he sorta, kinda, liked her back, too. Not that he would ever admit it, though.

He had been so close to kissing her, until the Highbreed bursted in, completely ruining the moment. Kevin had not found another time where he could kiss her. Either Ben was around or they were busy doing something, like keeping watch or something stupid like that. Well, there had been that one mission where they were alone and halfway across the galaxy. Ben had been helping Max train the other Plumbers when they were gone. He could have kissed her then, admit his feeling for her then, but no. He had been a wimp, wimping out. Kevin Ethan Levin never wimps out.

"I'm going to go get another smoothie," Ben said, standing up. "Anyone want anything?"

"Yeah," Kevin said, "how about a strawberry smoothie, for me."

Ben and Gwen stared. Like, flat-out stared. "Who are you and what have you done to Kevin?" Ben asked cautiously.

"Funny, Tennyson," Kevin said dryly. "That's such an original line. Now go get my smoothie!"

"Okay, okay," Ben said, putting his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I'm going."  
When he had left, Gwen looked at him. "You just wanted him to leave, didn't you?"  
"He was already leaving!" Kevin said. "Might as well let him take longer. I need peace and quiet when I'm working."  
"But Ben wasn't make a sound!" Gwen pointed out.

"Ah, Gwen, Gwen, Gwen," he said while putting an arm around her shoulders. "You may not hear as well as I can, but I heard him sucking on that straw like crazy. Plus, he contaminates the area. We need time to clear the air."

"Ha ha," Gwen said sarcastically. "You are so funny."  
"Why, thank you."  
"Any time."

Kevin walked over to the table and grabbed some tools. He wanted to tell her everything so badly. How much he loved her, her hair, her brains, her powers, everything. It was so tempting to tell her right there. Ben was gone, they were alone his garage, his turf, and just let everything he felt off his chest. Kevin set the tools he had picked up back down and turned towards her. He walked over to her and stopped inches away from her face. Raising a hand, he cupped her cheek and smiled. Gwen felt her heart rate accelerate and could hear the blood in her ears.  
"Kevin," she whispered, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Gwen," he whispered, huskily. They leaned in close, eyes closed and lips centimeters apart.

"I got the smoothies!" cried a male's voice. The two separated as fast as lightning. Gwen sat back down on her chair and Kevin dashed back to the table with the tools on it. Ben walked in, glad seeing that hell had not broken loose while he was gone.

He handed Kevin his strawberry smoothie which he reluctantly took. Kevin took off the lid with the straw still in place and tipped it upside down onto Ben's head. There was pink in his brown hair and pink dripping from his head onto his green jacket.

"Hey, what was that for?" Ben asked, clearly pissed.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Kevin said and walked out of the garage.

* * *

Kenya couldn't find Nature anywhere and she was starting to get worried. It was getting darker by the second and she was no where in sight. Kenya walked to the mouth of the cave and stared at the churning, dark water. She felt a hand on her shoulder and twisted her neck to the side to see who it was: Jarlath.

"She's going to be fine," he comforted.

Kenya sighed. "I know. I'm just worried. You know, normal friend stuff." He smiled. She went back to looking at the ocean but her friend's eyes were still trained on her. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, embarrassed he was caught staring. "We could go look for her, if you want. I think she's had enough time to cool down."  
"From what?"  
Jarlath nodded behind him at Artaxiad. "Tsiyone told me that light boy and her got into a fight. Saw her running and crying and knew something went down."  
"Oh." Of course, why hadn't she thought of that. "I guess we should go look. I mean, we start training again tomorrow, plus training with Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. We'll need all of our energy."

Jarlath nodded and they walked down the beach in the same direction as Nature so they could find her.

* * *

Hey guys! So, like I promised, I updated as fast as I could. Now that Spring Break is in full swing, I'm going to try and update like crazy!!! My goal is to get two more chapters out during Spring Break. How awesome would it be if I actually did it?!?!?! It'd be effin' awesome!! COMMENTS TIME!!

girlnextdoor14--Thanks for R&R-ing!! I had to make the scene with Artaxiad and Nature fighting hard because it was hard to write and I didn't want it happen. But, I had to for the story to move on because I had a crazy, nasty, kill-me-now case of WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!! But, now I'm completely cured as you can see ;)

That's it for now. Nothing new to add; you know what to do. Thanks for reading and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!!!!!!!!!! It makes my day when somebody does.

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	10. Chapter 10: The Attack

Disclaimer: I have cookies for whoever wants to hand the rights to Ben 10 or anything having to do with the show(s) over to me. Contact me.

Chapter 10: The Attack

"Stupid Kevin, stupid smoothie," Ben muttered as he put his favorite jacket into the dryer. "Why does he have to act like a pain all the time?" Knowing no one was going to answer him, he sat down while he waited for the dryer to buzz, signaling that it was done. _Do do do doooo do do do doooo_ Ben picked up his phone from the ground and saw Gwen's number. "Hello?"  
"Hey, it's me."

Ben laughed. "The only way I would know that is because of this fabulous invention called caller I.D."

"Hence, the reason why I don't have to say, 'Hey, it's Gwen.' "

"Good point." The dryer buzzed and Ben took out his green and black jacket. "What's up?"  
"I just wanted to ask if you've heard anything from Nature and the others."  
"No," he said while putting on his jacket. For some reason, his parents liked the house freezing cold. "But how do we know which beach we're suppose to meet them?"  
Gwen sighed. "There's only one beach in Bellwood, Ben," she said.

"Well, maybe they're not in Bellwood," he argued.

Gwen sighed again. "Listen, Ben, I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"  
"Yeah, sure," he said sadly and hung up.

* * *

The next day, at 5:00 on the beach, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin were at the beach, standing awkwardly, waiting.

"Well, this is awkward," commented Ben.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," muttered Kevin.

"Your welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm!" Gwen groaned. Leave it up to her cousin to say something like that.

"Look out!" Gwen turned around just as Kevin knocked her out of the way of a flying black panther. They landed hard on the sand, his arms around her waist.

"Thanks," she said.

"Any time."

They stood up in time to see the animal turn around and run towards Ben. Slamming down on the face of the Omnitrix, Ben cried, "Humongousaur!" when the transformation was complete. The panther jumped into his arms and he held a tight grip on it. "Aw, look at the kitty," Ben commented. The panther squirmed and eventually clawed at Humongousaur's arm. Four streaks of blood appeared on the scaled surface. "Hey," Humongousaur said in his deep voice, "that hurt!"

"Can it, Ben," Kevin said. "Let me show you how it's done." His steel arm turned into a hammer and he charged toward the creature. Kevin was surprised when the object hit a pink bubble. Crushed, he looked over at Gwen. "That's not fair!"  
"It doesn't matter if it's fair or not," Gwen said, "a panther shouldn't be here in Bellwood. We don't have a zoo or anything."  
Ben took a closer look at the panther and noticed its eyes. "Uh, guys," he said.

"Not now Ben," Gwen said. "We're thinking!"

"But I really think you should—"

_Boom!!!!!_ A bomb of fire exploded in the middle of the three friends. They were blown away and covered in sand. "What the hell?" Kevin called. All of them looked up at the sky, trying to see where the fire had came from, but there was nothing. Where the fire landed, the sand had turned to glass.

"This cannot be good," commented Gwen.

"Ya think?" Kevin asked, shooting a glace direct at her. Gwen turned to her head to make sure Ben was okay when she saw a huge rock hurtling down at him.

"Ben, look out!" she cried but it was too late. The rock had landed on top of Humongousaur, trapping him beneath. Pink manna surged from Gwen's hands and lifted the rock off of Ben. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I just got smashed by a rock, how do you think I feel?" he called. Ben looked down and saw the Omnitrix flash before he lost the alien's powers. "Great, just great," he muttered to himself. "This stupid thing never works."

Ben walked over to Gwen and Kevin and asked, "What is going on?"  
"If we knew, don't you think we'd tell you?" Kevin said.

"No."

"Good job."

Gwen held up a hand, signaling them to shut up. After a few moments, she lowered her hands. "Okay, it seems like the coast is clear. We should probably move and look for Nature and them before anything else happens. Maybe they have an idea what's going on." Walking away, they didn't notice a bold of light reflect off the glass and hit them in the backs, knocking them down once more.

"Okay, that's it," Ben said angrily. "Come out where we can see you you coward!" They looked around and waited to see if whoever was doing this would come out and show their faces. Out of nowhere, a crate flew out from behind a sand dune and hurtled towards them. Gwen threw up a shield of manna which broke the box, but failed to notice three vines creep up behind them and yank them down to the ground.

Gwen let out a cry when she hit the sand. "I'm starting to loose count of how many times I've fallen," she complained.

"You're not the only one," agreed Kevin.

"Element of surprise is always the best type of element," said a voice. The teens looked up to see six silhouettes walking towards them. Kevin's hands turned into weapons, Gwen's manna was at ready, and Ben's Omnitrix was still not working.

"Who are you?" Ben asked loud enough for them to hear. The figures where still quite a bit away. A showdown-like atmosphere formed. _Six against three seems hardly fair,_ thought Kevin.

"We already know each other," said one of the things. "It's just a matter of you recognizing us."

They continued to walk towards the humans until the details were visible. "Nature? Artaxiad? Jarlath? Tsiyone? Brant?" questioned Gwen, not quite believing what she was seeing.  
"Yeah," admitted Jarlath. "Sorry about kicking your butts."

"You were so not kicking our butts," argued Ben. "We could've taken you on had you shown your faces earlier."  
"But that's not the point of this exercise," Brant said.

"Wait, I'm still confused," Kevin said. "What is going on?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "They were fighting us as practice."

"I know that part! I'm confused about them kicking our butts because it hardly seemed like it."

"Trust me," Tsiyone said, "we were hardly trying."  
"I would recommend letting Kenya free," Nature suggested. "She doesn't really like being a cat."

"Oh, sorry," Gwen said. She let the pink ball around the panther disappear, allowing Kenya to escape.

"Thanks," she said. "But the point of this exercise was to see how well you would do against a surprise attack. You didn't do very well, seeing as how Ben got creamed by a rock, attacked by myself, and all of you eating sand three times each. With the exception of Kevin and Gwen who ate sand four times. That's not exactly what I call a good record."

"Well, none of that would have happened if you didn't attack us!" Kevin cried.

"Blah blah blah," mimicked Brant. "I don't care. But you made it on time which I guess makes up for getting your butts kicked. Wait, no it's not."  
"You are cruel, heartless man," Ben said. "Do you know that?"

Brant scoffed. "Do you think I don't hear it enough with these guys. I've spent ten years of my life with them and that's practically all I hear. I'm thinking it could be my slogan for when I open up my school: A cruel, heartless man will teach your kids everything they need to know. What do you think?"  
"That has to be the stupid slogan I've ever heard," Artaxiad said.

"I wasn't asking your opinion, now was I?" Brant asked. He opened his mouth to say something but Brant glared, forcing him to shut up. "C'mon, we've got some work to do," Brant said. He walked back to the sand dune and stopped at the foot. "Aren't you coming?" Everyone nodded and rushed over to join the older man so they could start training.

* * *

Hey guys! Yes! Two stories in less than 24 hours!! Who's good? I'm good! Sorry, I'm a little excited seeing how this has never happened to me before. Well, okay, that's lying because it happened when I wrote **25 Songs: Gwevin** but then again, I already wrote the chapters prior to uploading them. Whereas with this story, I haven't written the chapters out already. Weird...Anyways, it's COMMENTS TIME!!!!

girlnextdoor14--Thanks for R&R-ing as always!!! :) I'm working on the Gwevin but I made Kevin kind of a wimp in the last chapter because for some odd reason, I imagined/wanted Ben to get strawberry smoothie dumped on him. Do you think that has anything to do with me drinking a strawberry smoothie when I wrote that????? Hm.....I told you I was going to churn out the chapters (this one is proof!!!) plus I have next Monday off. How can I not?!?!?!?!

Okay, so I made a promise to you guys last chapter about promising to write and update two more chapters this week. So, I've got one down and one to go. Maybe I'll hit four!!! Okay, that seems like a stretch, even for me, but I'll try because I wouldn't be writing this if it weren't for you guys. Thank you all so much!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	11. Chapter 11: The First Lesson

Disclaimer: Is there an easier way to say "I don't own this" instead of everything single time in every single chapter? Because it seems to me that nothing changes and I have never and most likely will never own the rights of Ben 10 or anything that belongs to it.

Chapter 11: The First Lesson

"You know what to do."

"Yes, sir."

He leaned down and glared. "And what did I tell you about calling me 'sir'?"

"Um, don't do it?" asked a man.

"Yes." He sat back and sighed. "I just wish she would come home."  
"You're not the only one."

"Thank you. You are dismissed."

* * *

"Alright maggots!"

Nature glanced over. "Really?"  
Brant shrugged. "What? I've always wanted to say that."  
"You always do," Kenya complained.  
Brant dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Don't listen to them; they're just jealous."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Right."

"Anyways," Brant said, slipping back into his military roll, "you will start with Kenya, then go to Tsiyone, Jarlath, Artaxiad, and Nature. They will train you in different areas that are absolutely necessary in order to fight whatever it is that is coming." Turning to the teens Brant had known for a long time, he said, "Do what you always do. Train them as I have train you."  
Artaxiad snickered. "Hard and trying to kill us?"  
"That was in the beginning," Brant argued. "But can you blame me? I was stuck with you five. Half the time I think I'm going mad."  
"But some of the best people are mad," Kenya offered as comforting words.

"Yeah right," he mumbled. "Anyways, tell them what to do and if they don't comply, send them my way. Understood?" The five of them nodded. "Good. Now, Kenya you start. I'll be back at the cave. You five are in charge and I expect improvement!" Brant stomped away leaving everyone silent.

"Well, I guess we should get to work," Jarlath said. "You heard him, Kenya, you start."

Kenya glanced around nervously and said, "Um, can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Knowing what she was going to talk to them about, they nodded and followed their friend out of hearing range of the humans. "What are we suppose to teach them?" she asked. "I'm seriously freaking out!"

"Okay, okay, let's just calm down," Artaxiad suggested. "We should probably split up the areas that Brant taught us between us. The best one of each area will teach Ben, Gwen, and Kevin it. And then, we'll just move on from there. We've got five hours and there's five of us; an hour each."  
"But that's hardly enough time to teach them anything!" Tsiyone complained. "We'll never get anything done."

Nature thought for a minute and an idea popped into her head. "Okay, there are seven days a week right?" Artaxiad, Kenya, Jarlath, and Tsiyone nodded. "So how about this: One of us teaches one day, another another day, so on, and so on. Then, on the remaining two days, we do combined training where we all teach them at the same time. That way, they get a full five hours of training with each of us and they actually have a chance of learning something!"  
"That's a good idea," Tsiyone said. "But who's going to teach what?"  
They all sat in silence while they thought. "How about this," Jarlath said. "Hand to hand combat will be Tsiyone, observation will be Kenya, physical training will be Artaxiad, power training will be with Nature, and I'll do sneak attacks/planning entrances and exits."  
"I'm cool with that," Kenya said, nodding her head.

"Great! Let's get started. Kenya, you're up!" They walked back to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin who were a little peeved.

"Alright, we're going to do observation tonight so I hope you guys are good at paying attention to detail and can sit still and be quiet for a long time," informed Kenya. The Three nodded and looked at her expectantly. _I wonder why Brant likes the feeling of being in charge?_she thought. _It's such a, I don't know, weird feeling. _"Basic stuff you need to know: 1) Be silent and stay silent at all time, 2) never be seen, 3) pay attention to the littlest detail, and 4) prepare to memorize a ton of information. Any questions?" Everyone's heads shook "no". "Good." Kenya paused to look at Nature. _Go on!_ she mouthed to her friend. "Okay, um, why don't you guys," she pointed at Nature, Artaxiad, Jarlath, and Tsiyone, "go stand over there and I'll lead these guys," she pointed at Ben, Gwen, and Kevin, "over there."

Not wanting to embarrass their friend, the four teens walked down one side of the beach while the other four walked in the opposite direction. "Okay, now, you guys do something, but don't tell us what. I want all of you do be doing something, alright?" Kenya called. Nature gave her a thumbs up and everyone started doing different things. Turning to the Ben she asked, "Does any of your aliens have really good eyesight?"

"Not that I can think of," Ben said, shaking his head.

"Guess we'll do it the old fashion way," Kenya said with an evil smile.

"I'm officially creeped out," Kevin muttered to Gwen who elbowed him in the stomach. "What?"  
"Can you guys see anything that they're doing?" They shook their heads. "Okay. Since you haven't trained with Jarlath yet, it'll be harder to sneak up on them, but we can try. Just follow my lead and do what I say."

"Haven't we already been told that?" Gwen asked. Kenya sent an icy glance her way. With a wave of her hand, Kenya took the lead and the others followed. The group moved quickly and silently as they could. When they were a bit closer to the other group, Kenya asked,

"Okay, now can you see better?" Ben, Gwen, and Kevin nodded and trained their eyes on Nature, Artaxiad, Jarlath, and Tsiyone. "Good. Now, tell me what they are doing."

"It looks like—" Ben started to say.

"See you!" cried Artaxiad.

Kenya sighed. "Okay, so we're not going to be starting right off the bat." She sighed again and headed down to her friends with the trainees following her. "Really?" she asked Artaxiad. "You couldn't wait five seconds?"  
"What?" He threw his hands up in surrender. "He was practically standing up with a flashing neon sign saying, 'My name is Ben Tennyson and I'm here to spy on you'."

"I was not!" Ben argued. "Besides, it's the first day. Shouldn't we be given some lee-way."

"Do you think the bad guys are going to give you some 'lee-way' because you've never fought them before?" Jarlath asked.

"No," Ben said, "but they'll be at a disadvantage because they will have no idea what they're up against."  
"And you'll also be at a disadvantage," Nature said, "because you don't know what your up against either."

"Why don't you teach them form and some techniques," offered Jarlath. "Then you can move on to stalking us."

Kenya blushed a bright red. "Um, uh, yeah. That sounds like a great idea. Thanks Jarlath."

"Anytime." He and the others sat down and started to talk while Kenya taught.

"Okay, so, form, let's start with that," she said nervously. "Um, well, you obviously have to keep down low or close to a wall, depending where you are. Try and make yourself as small as possible and always wear clothes close enough to your surroundings. It makes it harder to be spotted when you're camouflaged. And try to get close enough to whoever you are spying on so you know for certain what's happening and you have an easier time for detail. If you get caught, make something up that doesn't sound suspicious and don't stuttered. Act calm. Getting caught is like improv. If people don't believe you or you suck at it, they're going to throw you off the stage. Or kill you, depending."

"Depending on what?" Kevin asked.

"Depending who it is and what they are doing." Kevin's eyebrows raised in disbelief. "It's true. I've had the experience of almost being killed but then had to be rescued. And let me tell you, depending on who rescues you, the rest of your life could get very miserable."

"To be honest, your not making any sense," Ben said.

Kenya shook her head. "Never mind! Just, crouch on the ground and let me see your pose." They did as they were told and crouched down, knees bent. "Good. Now, act like your part of a wall." They stood up and made themselves as flat as possible.

"This is utterly ridiculous," Gwen complained. "If anything, we need to work on our powers. Observation isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Dear Gwen," Kevin said in a strange voice, "observation is everything. How else do you think I get all of my info? Or all of my tech? Or the deals? It's all about observation."

"That's the spirit!" Kenya cheered. "Now, pretend your a wheel."

"A what?"

"A wheel. Just do it!"  
"Okay, okay," the three teens said and got down on the sand, rolling up into tight balls.  
"Good, now, let's see how long you can hold that pose. I'll be back in a little while to see how your doing." Kenya walked away towards her friends.

"Your just going to leave us here?" Ben called out.  
"No, I'm not leaving you," she replied. "I'm merely watching you from a distance. Trust me, the longer you can hold a pose like that, the better. Now, SHUT UP!"

"Fine," Ben whispered under his breath, "no need to go all control-freak on us." After staying in a tightly rolled-up position for what seemed like hours (which was really only an hour), Ben said, "I can't feel my legs."

"Then shift to a more comfortable position," Gwen said.

Ben did so but was yelled at by Kenya. "DO NOT MOVE!!"

"How can you possible know if we're moving or not?" Kevin yelled back.

"She has her ways," Jarlath mysteriously answered. "She's magical like that."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Gwen's magical," he said to himself.

"You do know that's part of my alien heritage, right, Kevin?" Gwen asked.

He blushed a light shade of red. "Of course I knew that," he said, trying to play it off. "But they don't know that."

Ben laughed. "Maybe they do."

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT NOT TALKING?!?!?!?" Kenya screamed.

"Uh, not to?" Ben answered.

"Exactly. So why can I hear your every word in your conversation? There shouldn't be a conversation!!" They fell silent, not wanting to be screamed at again.

"You know, you're doing a pretty good job of teaching them," Jarlath complimented her.  
"Yeah, if you want to be just like Brant," Tsiyone joked. Jarlath and Kenya sent him an icy glare. "What? It's true! Your like Ms. Dictator."

"Well, they won't shut up," Kenya said defensively. "Wait until you get them. Then you'll know how I feel."

"At least they're learning not to talk," Nature pointed out. "That was one issue I remember a certain someone had a difficult time learning." She led her gaze to Artaxiad.

"Hey, it doesn't help that some twenty-something man is yelling at you to shut up. For all I know, he could have wanted to eat me!"

"Yeah, you first so he wouldn't have to hear your constant chatter," Nature teased. _At least we can act like we're still friends and nothing else happened. _But, Nature didn't believe for one second that Artaxiad wasn't still mad at her. He was playing the same game she was: Don't let your teammates know that you're still mad at each other or else all hell will break loose. They knew what happened. It's extremely hard to hide something that big from their friends. If they thought that everything between Artaxiad and her was fine and happy and great, then that's the way things would be. If not, well, hell would break loose. Again.

"How long do you plan for them to stay like that?"

Kenya shrugged. "Maybe for the rest of the time tonight."  
"You can't do that," Jarlath said. "The blood will be cut off from their legs. You better let them stand up soon."

Kenya sighed. "Fine. I'll be right back."

Ben looked up and saw Kenya coming their way. "She's coming," he whispered to his friends.

"Well, you failed to be quiet for an hour. Looks like that's something we need to work on." She looked over all three of them and told them to stand up. "Now, act like your a tree. A great big tree. Reach for the sky." When they had done so, she smiled. "Good. Now stay like that until I get back and this time, DON'T TALK!"

"Wow, you're taking this thing seriously," noted Artaxiad.  
"Figured if I had to do it, they have to, too," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. "They need to learn to be strong and know that great strength is not always physical, but mental as well."

"Okay, now you're scaring me," Artaxiad joked. Nature rolled her eyes.

"We should probably train ourselves," Jarlath said. "Let's do some hand-to-hand combat like we did this morning. I think that's an area we need to work on."

"With or without our powers?" Tsiyone questioned.

Jarlath thought for a moment. "With. Out."

"Cool," Nature said. "Kenya, why don't you have your 'students' come and watch us. They can still be a tree while watching us. It'll give them something to think about."

"Good idea." She motioned for Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to come down which they did thankfully. When they arrived she said, "You are still going to act like a tree and still be silent. But, your going to be watching us to hand-to-hand combat without our powers. It's an important skill to learn. Sure, you can fight with help, but what really matters is how well you do on your own. Stand right there and do not talk or move. If you can do this, I'll send you home early. If not, expect to run laps." Gwen glared at Ben and Kevin. They knew that look. If they talked, Gwen would kill them without any witnesses around. And it would be a long, slow, painful death too.

Nature and Artaxiad and Jarlath, Tsiyone, and Kenya paired up and started to fight. Ben secretly hoped Nature would kick Artaxiad's butt so embarrassingly, he would have to walk away in shame. He was sorry to see how good Artaxiad was and why she paired up with him. They were virtually the same when it came down to fighting without powers. Jarlath, Tsiyone, and Kenya were about the same too, although Tsiyone had an upper hand with being extremely strong. Something that he couldn't control so he was able to get away with it.

Gwen was watching in fascination and Ben noticed that Kevin was watching Gwen in fascination. He glared at the elder who shrugged his shoulders. Acting like he hadn't been staring at Gwen was so juvenile. It was obvious that they liked each other. Ben knew that Gwen like Kevin and vice versa. What he didn't understand was why didn't they just admit it on the count of three? _Hm, I'll have to try that,_ Ben thought with a smirk. Gwen looked quizzically at her strange cousin who only smiled. Shaking her head in wonder, Gwen turned back to watch the fighting which looked very similar to her martial arts.

Did Ben know that Kevin and Gwen had been about to kiss the other day? Of course he did, which was why he walked in just in time. It's not like he wanted to see them shove their tongues down each other's throats because he had no desire to, but he wanted to pay Kevin back for breaking his window. Pretty pathetic, right?

As they stood like trees for another hour, Nature and Artaxiad were in a pretty heated battle. The problem with them fighting together was they had too much anger at each other and they were the exact same when it came to hand-to-hand combat. They thought the same, fought the same, saw the same. It was nearly impossible to see who would win without their powers. In the end, it would come down to who would loose stamina first. Nature knew that if it did come to that, Artaxiad would beat her.

"Oof," someone grunted as they hit the sand. She took a quick glance to see who it was when Artaxiad saw his window of opportunity. He swept her feet out from under her and pinned her to the sand.  
"Gotcha," he said with smile.

"Only because I wasn't paying attention," she said back.

"Lesson number one: always pay attention," he said, teacherly. **(A/N: Is that even a word?)**

"Thanks for the lesson," she grunted. He got off of her and helped pull her back onto her feet. "Thanks."

"Well, I think that's enough for the night," Kenya said from the ground. _How cliche, _Nature thought. _Both girls knocked onto the ground. Stupid guys._

"I have to agree on that one, "Jarlath said.

"You guys are free to go," Kenya said to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. "No laps for you. But I can't guarantee with the rest of them." She nodded her head at her friends. "Be prepared to run from now on," she warned.

"Thanks," Gwen said sourly. She still had to study for a science test for tomorrow and by the time she got home, it would be 10:30. The group of three climbed into Kevin's car and drove away completely and utterly exhausted.

* * *

Hey guys! Wow, it's been a really long time since I updated. Well, not really, but it sure does feel like it! Okay, so Happy April Fool's Day!! YAY!!!! I'm still on Spring Break until Tuesday which means you'll have me today, tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Prepare for uploads!!! *Laughs evilly* Okay, um...COMMENTS TIME!!!!

iluvmcgowanboys123--Thanks for the review and the compliment! ;) I'm trying and apperantly I suck with this whole Gwevin thing. But I did write a series of SongFics that are all about Gwevin! Check that one out! I'll try and put more in, but I've got some "evil" plans planned out so hopefully that will arise soon.

That's all I got this time! Sorry if this was extremely long and you were extremely bored but I tried. That's what counts right? Oh, and the "But some of the best people are mad" line is from _Alice in Wonderland _by Tim Burton. I don't own that either. But I thought it was a nice quote so I decided to add it in. Please review by clicking the little thing below. It makes my day when people do that ;) Review for comments, questions, concerns, and/or ideas. Thanks!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	12. Chapter 12: The Six Miles

Disclaimer: The two things I own from this story: 1) the plot line and 2) the characters Nature, Artaxiad, Kenya, Jarlath, Tsiyone, and Brant. Anything else belongs to Man of Action and Cartoon Network.

Chapter 12: The Six Miles

Ben climbed out of the car and raced to the counter. "I'll have one Strawberry, Mango Tango, Lime and Lemon, Orange and Banana, and a soda." He pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to the guy.  
"Okay, will there be anything else?" he asked.

"Just give me my smoothies!!!" Ben screamed.  
"Alright, alright, calm down." The man slowly backed away and went to get Ben's order ready. "Here you go," he said once he was done making the smoothies and gave Ben his change. "Have a great Smoothie day!"** (A/N: I just had to do it!)**

Ben ran back out to his friends and handed them their smoothies. "Here," he said thrusting the drink into their hands. He set down his three smoothies and picked up Mango Tango. He took a long sip, nearly emptying the cup. "Ah," he sighed. Gwen and Kevin stared. "What? After a long five hours of training yesterday and a grueling day at school today, I think I'm entitled to a smoothies relaxation, don't you think?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Kevin said offhandedly. Smoothies were so gross. How Gwen and Ben could drink them, he had no idea. All it was was pulverized fruit, ice, and milk. In Kevin's eyes, there was nothing special about a smoothie.

"Well, it's four-thirty," Gwen announced. "We should probably head over to the beach for another session."

"Ugh," groaned Ben. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle!"  
"It's only been one day," protested Kevin. "How can you be complaining? It's actually not that hard."  
"Oh, shut up Kevin," Gwen said. "I heard you muttering how hard this was. But we agreed to do this and we're not going to show them that we're weak. We said we could keep up and we will!"

"Wow, Gwen," Kevin said with his trademark smirk, "do you plan on being a motivational speaker someday?"  
"No," she said airily.

"Well even if you don't, you deserve shotgun." He made a grand sweeping gesture at the shotgun's side of the car. "I'll even open the door for you."

"Kevin," Gwen said with mock admiration, "that's so sweet! I think I can get use to it."

"Oh, no," Kevin said. "This is a one time thing, and one time only. Got it?" Gwen rolled her eyes and got in the car. Kevin shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. "Coming Tennyson?"

"Naw," Ben answered with a smile. "I think I'll fly." He smiled. This was only phase one.  
"Suit yourself." Kevin climbed into the car and drove out of the parking lot with Ben following in the air.

* * *

"Where are they?" Jarlath complained, pacing. "They should be here by now."  
"Calm down, they'll be here." Kenya looked at her friend. "They're only a minute late."  
He turned on his heel and marched to Tsiyone. "One lap for every minute they're late, got it?"

"Um, okay," Tsiyone said. It wasn't unusual for Jarlath to act this way. He always was the control freak and a rule-follower.

Everyone heard the sound of Kevin's car approaching and stood up. Jarlath looked at the watch Brant made him wear and saw the time. "Three minutes late," he said while Ben, Gwen, and Kevin came up to the group. "Three laps of running at the end of the lesson."

"Oh, come on!" Kevin complained. "Now we have to run because of traffic?"  
"Punctuality is always a good trait to practice."

"Whatever," Kevin grumbled. He was not the running type, and neither was Ben. He played goalie for crying out loud! You don't run when you're in a box!

"Tsiyone is going to be your instructor today," Nature said, stepping forward before Jarlath could make any more demands. "He's going to teach you hand-to-hand combat with your powers. As time goes on, you'll learn to do it without them. We'll be over there watching," she said to Tsiyone. They walked away and sat down on the cool sand.  
"Well," Tsiyone said. "You're going to have to run three laps as you know so I'll go easy on you because it's your first day with me and having to run and all. Anyways, hand-to-hand combat can be extremely useful in a number of situations. I'm assuming that the Omnitrix runs out after a certain amount of time?"  
"Try whenever it wants to," Ben said.

"And then you're pretty much useless and get in trouble, am I right?"  
"You have no idea," Gwen answered.  
"Hey! I help! I'm not useless!" Ben argued.

"Um, pretty much," Kevin said, backing up Gwen. "In case you haven't noticed, Gwen and I pretty much do the work when the Omnitrix is busted or having a hissy fit." He crossed his arms and leaned up against Gwen. Surprisingly, she didn't shove him off.  
"Excellent," Tsiyone said. "So this will come in use."

"Or not." Ben lightly rested his hand on the Omnitrix. "I'm not exactly willing to dash into a fight without using the Omnitrix. I'll get killed!"

"But isn't that what you do anyways?" Tsiyone asked. "Dash into battle without any protection or any weapons? You, Gwen, and Kevin always have a chance of being killed. It's one of the risks of fighting. You can always get killed."  
"Yeah, but the aliens I use have, like, superpowers," Ben said. "They never die."

"They may never die, but they get hurt which is probably why the Omnitrix maxes out so fast. The aliens you are using can't take a beating anymore and need time to heal. Hence, you returning to your human form. As for the 'superpowers', that's the alien's natural way of defending itself. Much like a human's natural form of defense it hand-to-hand combat or some form of combat without a weapon, or a weapon, but a very simple one such as a stick or a rock."

"But I thought Nature said we were going to use our powers," Gwen said, quoting the girl.

Tsiyone nodded. "Yes, but I enjoy proving your cousin wrong. It's funny to see him try and prove he's right when in reality, he's just digging himself into a deeper hole."

"Now you're talking," Kevin said, still leaning against Gwen.  
"We probably won't get to actually fighting today," Tsiyone said. "Instead we'll learn the basics."

Ben groaned. "It's always back to the basics, isn't it?"

"The basics allow you to move onto the more complicated stuff."

"Well, how about this: You and me fight, hand-to-hand, whatever you wanna call it with our powers. If I win, we skip this 'class' and move on. If you win, we'll run not only our three laps, but three more as well. Also, we'll stay in this 'class'," Ben offered. "How about it?" Gwen groaned and Kevin punched Ben in the arm. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot, Tennyson," he growled. "They're better than us and, by the looks of it, Tsiyone could snap your neck in half. With one hand!"

"I can take him," Ben said confidently. "I'm not afraid."  
"Of course you're not," stepped in Gwen, "because you are being to much of an idiot to be reasonable. I mean, six laps! You have no idea how big those laps are going to be! Just drop the bet and let's learn."

"No way am I going to be standing like a tree for three hours," Ben argued.

"Hey!" Kenya called, clearly insulted. "It'll help you!"

"Uh, Benji, wrong class," Kevin smirked.

"Whatever, I can take him," Ben boasted. "It'll be a piece of cake with Humungousaur!" He turned the face of the Omnitrix and slammed down on it when a projection of Humungousaur appeared. "Humungousaur!!!" he roared when the transformation was complete. "Bring it on, cupcake."

In one swift movement, Tsiyone leaped up and flew over Humungousaur's head to land behind him. Ben was about to turn around so he could face his challenger but face-planted into the sand instead. "Alright then, now that that's done, you three are now running a total of six laps, plus continuing this 'class'," Tsiyone said, dusting off his hands. "Anyone else willing to try and make a bet and then loose?" Gwen and Kevin looked at each other, back at Tsiyone, and shook their heads to the side.

"Great going, Ben," Kevin said, anger in his voice.

"Why do you always have to be so over confident?" Gwen asked while staring at Humungousaur who was still lying in the sand. The Omnitrix flashed and Ben returned to his normal human form.

"I know I can take him," Ben argued. He stood up and dusted himself off. "I just wasn't ready."  
"Not ready to do something the ways it's suppose to be or not ready to loose?" Kevin asked. Both his and Gwen's faces were so ice cold, Ben thought he was going to freeze._ At least they're on the same page for something_, Ben thought to himself._ Now just for it __not to be mad at me..._

Tsiyone sighed. "Now can we start? We only have so much time."

"Yeah, we can start," Gwen said. She glared at Ben with the same look she had given him earlier.

Tsiyone talked about different positions when you were on the offense, the defense, knowing if you were on the offense or defense, flips, punches, pressure points to be used on certain aliens, blocks, and a tons more. By the time he was done, there was fifteen minutes left until Ben, Gwen, and Kevin could go home. "Well," he said, clearly pleased that he had fit so much stuff into a four hours and forty-five minutes span of time, "now that I'm done, you guys will have plenty of time to run your laps." Putting his fingers into his mouth, he whistled for his friends to come over. "They are ready."

"Sweet," Nature said, excited to see how well they would do (although she will be disappointed). "Let's spread out into the oval, one mile long."

"You're expecting us to run six miles in fifteen minutes?" Ben yelled.  
"It could have been three miles if you kept your mouth shut," Gwen said airily while throwing her idiotic cousin another icy glance.

Artaxiad laughed. "No, we don't expect you to run six miles in fifteen minutes, although we could do it in ten," he boasted. "But we do expect you to run the entire thing, no walking aloud." He looked at his friends to make sure they were in place. "I'll be your start and finish line. I'll call out how many laps are left. On your mark, get set, go!" And the runners were off!

Forty minutes later, Gwen was on her last lap and Kevin and Ben were on their fifth. Gwen collapsed onto the sand and breathed heavily until Kevin and Ben finished five minutes later. "I have never been so tired in my life!" Kevin wheezed.

"I think I just developed asthma," Ben whispered, barely getting the words out.

"Well, now that you are done," Nature said, walking over to them, "you can go home."

"You mean if we can get to the car," Kevin corrected.

Nature chuckled. "Yes, if you can get to the car. See you tomorrow!" She called and waved while walking back to her friends who were ready for some sleep. After all, they had their own training the next morning.

* * *

Hey guys! Wow, another amazing update play by Writingaddict169!! Woo hoo!! This is exciting!! It's sooo nice outside but I'm inside writing for you guys. That's gotta be worth something. Okay, it's time for COMMENTS TIME!!!!

Nobody--Thank you for not reviewing!!!!

Naw, I kid you all! But seriously, nobody reviewed last chapter or any chapter. See how boring it is not reading anyone's comments? Actually, I honestly believe that nobody reads this little part at the bottom so for all you know, I could be the voice of a new alien on Ben 10: Ultimate Alien but you wouldn't know that because nobody (including yourself) reads this part. So I have no idea why I even bother. Oh, well. Guess you guys will have to be jealous and not know about my new computer and my new job on Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. Sucks to be you! Just kidding. I'm not going to be on Ben 10: Ultimate Alien no matter how much I wish to be but I did get a new computer. A girl can dream, right? Well, Happy Easter if I don't update soon and if you don't celebrate Easter, than Happy Whatever it is you celebrate. Or, if you don't celebrate anything at all this weekend, then HAPPY WEEKEND!! WOO HOO!!!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169

P.S. Click the little button that has a speech bubble. No, not that one. Yes, that one! Click it and start typing. I wanna hear from you guys even if it is just one review!!!!


	13. Chapter 13: The Apology

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 13: The Apology

Nature groggily woke up after a shove from Brant. "What do you think you're doing?" she whispered-yelled.

"It's time for training," he replied, loud enough for everyone else to wake up.

"Dude, it's still dark out," Tsiyone complained as he rolled over, closing his eyes. "Wake me up in ten."

"Oh, no you don't," Brant said, walking over to the boy. "You guys are lazy and haven't trained in months."

"Actually, it's only been a day or two," Artaxiad said while sitting up and ridding his eyes of sleep.

"I don't need smart-ass remarks, Artaxiad," Brant said while trying to sit Tsiyone up and failing miserably. "Now come over here and help me get this loaf of bread up and awake." Artaxiad and Nature got up and walked over to their sleeping friend and struggling mentor. After several attempts, they had not come any closer to getting Tsiyone to wake up or sit up.

"I think we're going to need the help of an elephant," Nature said. She walked over to Kenya and gently shook her shoulder. When her eyes fluttered open, Nature said, "We need your help getting Tsiyone to wake up. Can you turn into an elephant and roll him over into the ocean? It should wake him up."

Kenya smiled. "Sure." She walked over to Tsiyone and morphed into an elephant. Using her tusks, the elephant rolled Tsiyone out of the cave, onto the sand, and into the freezing cold water.

"What the hell?!?!?!" he screamed when he surfaced for air. "Are you guys mentally insane? What the hell were you thinking?!?!"

"Next time, I would wake up when I tell you to," Brant easily said. "That way you won't be sopping wet when you wake up. You could catch a cold with this weather.

"I hate you guys so much," he said, his teeth chattering. "One day you will die and I will laugh without feeling guilty."

The girls laughed and headed back towards the cave. "Come on, I'll light a fire big enough to dry you off," Nature said. Tsiyone raced back to the cave so he could get the warmest spot.

After breakfast, the group of six headed out of the cave and onto the beach. "Start stretching because we've got a lot of running today," Brant said to the teenagers. While they stretched, Brant marked the shape of an oval using fire on the sand. "The oval is about a mile long so I want you guys to run around it ten times. Ten times, ten miles, fifteen minutes. Got it? Good. And, go!"

Fifteen minutes later, Nature, Artaxiad, Kenya, Jarlath, and Tsiyone were on the sand, drinking some water Nature had pulled up from underneath. It was very helpful to be able to control the elements.  
"Okay, now that that's out of the way, follow me." The five stood up and followed Brant down to the water. "Please, have a seat," he said while sitting down himself. Without questions being asked, they did as they were told and sat in the freezing water that Tsiyone had woken up in.

"Great, after being dry I get wet again," he mumbled. "This is not fair."

Brant shot him a death glare. "I know we haven't done agoy yet this morning and some of us have already used our powers, so we'll do it now to wake up everything else and get more control on them. Follow my lead as we do this together." **(A/N: I hate it when the guy/girl says that on Wii Fit!! It annoys the crap outta me!)** Brant stood up and reached down to the wet sand, touching it lightly with the tips of his fingers. He then reached up towards the sky and stretched as far as he could go and leaned back. The teens followed his every move and instantly felt lighter and more in control of something as unpredictable as their powers. Every mind was clear of any thoughts and everyone felt calm, peaceful, and at harmony with everything around them.

Once they were done with the yoga-like poses, everyone felt at ease. They walked out of the water and laid down on the sand.

"Do you mind if we dried out a bit first?" Kenya asked. They were soaking wet from being in waist-deep water and the sun had just come out from the horizon.

"Fine." Brant sighed. "But only for a few minutes. Then we have to get back to work. You never know when—"

"Something might attack," the group of wet teens finished from the ground. They laid in silence, flipping over halfway through to make sure both sides were dry. Jarlath elbowed Tsiyone once or twice in the gut to make sure he was staying awake. He had always been the one to wake up last. He believed that waking up before the sun came up should be against the law.

"Alright, come on," Brant said, walking away from them. "Since we don't have any of our equipment, we're going to have to make do with the resources we have and whatever we can conjure up." When none of them moved, Brant said again, "Come on!" Scrambling, the teens stood up and followed Brant farther away from the water. "Nature, I need five boulders, about one hundred pounds each. Can you get them for me?"

"Why, do you doubt me?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Sometimes." Rolling her eyes, Nature raised her arms above her head and five boulders, all about the same size and weight, came flying out of the ground. Five holes were left behind, causing sand to fall in to fill them up.

"Okay, Artaxiad, I need you to carve them into the form of the weights we use while having them still weigh a hundred pounds. Can you do that for me?"

"Why, do you doubt me?" Artaxiad asked with his hands on his hips, mocking Nature.

"Very funny," she replied drily. He shrugged and went to work on carving the rock and was done ten minutes later.

"Ten reps each. No powers," Brant said, glaring at everyone. "After this, we can be done."

They went to work, moving the make-shift weights up and down in sync. Nature and Artaxiad sat down next to each other while Jarlath, Kenya, and Tsiyone were next to them.

"You know," Artaxiad said as he moved his arms up and down, "you can apologize whenever you want."

Without missing a beat, Nature said, "And why would I do that? You're the one who turned a simple conversation into a screaming match."  
"If you didn't bring it up, it wouldn't have been a screaming match."

"Really?" She let out a breath she hadn't realized that she had been holding. "Well, you could have told me you didn't want to talk about it. Then, we wouldn't have yelled at each other."

"Did you actually think I didn't know what was happening? What was going on? What's coming?" Artaxiad looked over at Nature, his life-long friend. "That's why I didn't tell you how I felt sooner. It would have made everything so much harder."

They continued their reps in silence. When they were done, Nature sat up and looked at her friend. Truly looked at him. For everything that he was worth. Every flaw, every perfection, every ounce of skin, and thought. Thought about how he'd been there for her. How he knew her better than anyone else and the same for her with him. She could see why he didn't tell her. She could see why. She would have been just as heartbroken as he was. Life sucks. That's final. But then again, I guess everyone knows that .

"I'm sorry," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear her. "I'm so sorry." Silent tears started rolling down her cheeks and Artaxiad reached over and wiped them away.  
"It's okay," he said equally as loud. "I'm sorry, too. But now everything's going to be okay. We're still going to be friends forever, I promise."

He wrapped her in a hug. "Don't make promises you can't keep," Nature said.

He pulled back with a smile on his face. "I'm pretty good at keeping promises. This one shouldn't be a problem."

* * *

Hey guys! Happy Easter! Guess you guys got two Easter gifts! And if you don't celebrate Easter, happy Sunday!! I can't believe it!!! I updated this story four times in a span of six days!!! I wonder if I can update one more time to make it a week....How epic would that be?!?!?! Pretty epic if you ask me ;)

I am sad to say that there are no comments this time so that means either everyone is away from the computer because of the holidays or everyone hates this story. Well, um, okay then, I can handle that, I guess. I think it's pretty good but whatever. I just want one comment! Please!! Anyone!! You don't have to have a FanFic account to review. I disabled that stupid thing. Please, I'm begging ya'll!!!! And no, I'm not from the South. Anything or any type is welcomed. Thanks!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	14. Chapter 14: The Ditch

Disclaimer: I once owned Ben 10, but then I woke up.

Chapter 14: The Ditch

Ben tapped his foot impatiently. They were doing nothing, nothing at all. "Shouldn't we be out fighting aliens or something?" he asked, breaking the silence that filled the garage.

"No," Kevin said. He slid out from underneath his car and sat up. "Why would we want to? We're going through some alien torture plan that they call 'training' and we're exhausted. Besides," he said, sliding back under his car, "there's no activity showing up anywhere on the badges. What do you want us to do? Drive around aimlessly?"

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this!" groaned Kevin. "This is so pointless. Besides, we're wasting gas, and gas is not cheap, Ben. You'll understand once you get a car. That is, if you ever get a car."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ben asked from the backseat.

"I'm going to have to agree with Kevin on this one, Ben," Gwen said from the front of the car. They were driving around aimlessly because of Kevin's "great" suggestion and Ben's whining abilities. "Let's face it, you're never going to get a car. At least, not at the rate you drove Kevin's in the big battle against the Highbreed."

"See Tennyson?" Kevin said with a smug expression on his face. "Even Gwen agrees with me, and what she says goes."

"Do not even try and be a kiss-up, Kevin Levin," Gwen warned him.

"What? A kiss-up? How could I ever be a kiss-up? I am not a kiss-up, and you know it, Gwen. I'm being completely and utterly honest as I always am."

She looked at him with a doubtful look. "Really? Because if you never lie and are always honest, why are you lying to my face right now?"  
Kevin sighed. "Oh, come on, it's not a huge lie or anything." He stopped short when he realized why Gwen was suddenly smiling. "Damn it, Gwen."

"See, you can't even lie that you are not lying. You are such a bad liar."

"Am not!" Kevin argued. Ben sighed, knowing where this was going. First they would argue, then something bad would happen, then they would kiss and make up after a) something bad happened or b) they won whatever had happen. It was always the same. Maybe he could turn this into something where he could get Kevin to admit his feelings for Gwen or vice versa...

Gwen sighed, not wanting to start a fight about something as stupid as whether Kevin was a bad liar or not. In some cases he was, in others, well, not so much. "Fine, Kevin. You're not a bad liar. Happy?" Kevin looked over at her.

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked. He had completely forgotten that Ben was still in the car. But then again, when an idiot is being quiet, you forget that the idiot is completely there.

"Nothing," she said. "Nothing is wrong. Nothing at all. What's so wrong about that? It's been a completely normal day and yet everyone keeps asking what's wrong. Why don't people understand to just leave somebody alone and not always ask what's wrong with them or their day? Is it such a hard concept to understand?"

"No," Kevin said warily. "You just seem tired, like you had a rough day or something'."

"Well, I didn't." Gwen turned in her seat so she could face the window completely. For once she wasn't complaining about Kevin's driving.

Kevin looked in his mirror and his eyes widen when he saw Ben.  
"What? Forgot I was here?" Ben asked the older teen.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, right. More like I saw something scary." Silence filled the car. "Okay, that's it. I'm taking you guys home."

"Why?" Ben asked.

"Because there's nothing to do, no point in wasting gas for nothing, and Ms. PMS over there is having a silence fest.

"But don't we have training?" Ben asked.

"Screw 'training'," Kevin said. "I'm going home and if I'm going home, so are you."

He turned the car around so hard, the seat belts dug into everyone's skin. Flicking on the turn signal, Kevin drove in the direction of Ben's house. If he hurried and dropped off Gwen fast enough, he might get enough sleep before the step got home.

* * *

"Where the hell are they?" Artaxiad demanded, foot tapping impatiently.

"I'm sure they'll be here," Nature said.

"Yeah. They lasted this long, haven't they?" Kenya asked. "Most would have probably run away by now."

"And what makes you think they are still coming?" Jarlath asked.

Kenya shrugged. "A feeling, I guess."  
"More like a woman's intuition," Nature joked.

"How does that even work?" Jarlath wondered aloud.

"Magic," both girls answered at the same time. They laughed.

"Girls," the two guys present muttered.

"Boys," the girls mocked.

Tsiyone jogged over to his friends. "Hey, guys, are they here yet?" All four shook their heads.

"Sorry man," Jarlath said.

Tsiyone shrugged. "S'kay. Let's give them a few more minutes." And so, they waited, and waited, and waited.

"They are not coming," Artaxiad said after a while. "We should just go back."

"You guys go ahead," Kenya said. She sat down on the cool sand. "I'm gonna sit out here for a while."

The group nodded and walked away when Nature suddenly stopped and turned around and headed back to Kenya.

"What're you doing?" Artaxiad called.

Nature shook her head. "Go on. I'll catch up with you guys." He nodded and walked back to the others. She sat down next to her friend in silence. After a few moments, it was broken.

"You know, I don't think they are coming tonight." Kenya nodded. "Do you want to go back to the cave?" Kenya shook her head no. "Okay, we can stay out here, that's fine."

"I thought they would be different." It took Nature's mind a moment to figure out who Kenya was talking about.

"Different how?" Nature asked.

Kenya didn't answer but gazed at the waves that were hitting the shoreline. Nature stood up and dusted sand off of her jeans.

"I thought they would try and help, not give up." Kenya looked at her friend who seemed thoroughly confused. "Everyone who wanted to join our team said they could handle our training methods and exercise plans. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin said it too. I guess I was wrong about them being different. They are just like everybody else." She looked back at the ocean hoping Nature would leave her alone. Instead she did the exact opposite.  
Nature squatted next to Kenya and put an arm around her shoulders. "You are right; you are wrong."

"Gee, way to make me feel better," Kenya drily said.

Nature put up a finger signaling for her to shut up. "You are wrong, everyone is different. That's what makes us unique. As for Ben, Gwen, and Kevin not being here, they are probably just taking a break. I know we all skipped a couple of sessions when we first started with Brant. But if they are part of The Four, they'll be back. They have to be."

* * *

Hey guys!! Writingaddict169 here and sorry I haven't updated in a while. I guess there really aren't any excuses I can use or will. But hey, the world premiere of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien is on tonight!! I am so going to be watching! Oh, and stick around for the brand new series, Generator Rex! I'll be watching! COMMENTS TIME!!!

girlnextdoor14--Thanks for the review! I know I can always count on you for those!!! Thanks for your 4 reviews!!! *Other readers become jealous and start clicking on the review button BELOW!!!*

taa--Thanks for the review and I'm trying my best!

Well, that's it for now.

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	15. Chapter 15: The Creature

Disclaimer: Man of Action owns anything that is/relates to Ben 10 and it's following series.

Chapter 15: The Creature

Nature stood up. "Come on, we should probably head back before it gets dark."  
"Why? Scared of the dark?" Kenya teased, standing up as well.

"Please," Nature scoffed, "I can turn night into day with fire. How could I be scared?"  
"I don't know," the morphing girl said. "Maybe the fire you use is just a big night light."

"Whatever," she said. The two girls started walking back to the cave when Nature called, "Race ya!" She took off, leaving Kenya alone.

"Oh, you are so on," she challenged. Kenya transformed into a bat and darted off. To be honest, there was no prominent leader. As they neared the cave, Nature kicked it into high gear, not wanting to lose. But there is an advantage to being a bat: When there is wind, use the wind to do what you want it to do. In the instance of Kenya, she had surfed the wind the entire time and was still full of energy. Closing her eyes against the brightness of the flame, Kenya flapped her wings as hard and as fast as she could. She zoomed ahead into the cave. Realizing she couldn't stop, she morphed back into her human form and crashed into the hard, cold cave floor.

Brant ran over to the fallen girl and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"Did I win?" she asked, dazed from her fall.

Brant laughed. "Yeah, you did."

"Wait, did you just laugh?" Kenya questioned.

"No," he said, deadpan.

"I believe he did," Nature said while rushing over to her friend. "But don't worry, we won't tell the guys." She looked over at the sleeping boys, one of whom was snoring.

"I didn't laugh," muttered Brant. He walked back over to those who were sleeping and laid down.

* * *

Ben groaned as his alarm clock blared in his ear. He rolled over, hitting the snooze button, hoping for five more minutes of sleep before his mom noticed that his alarm went off.

_Knock, knock_. "Ben, time to get up," his mom, Sandra, called from the other side of the door.

"Five more minutes, Mom," Ben mumbled. He threw his covers over his head in case his mom walked in and turned on the lights. Luckily, he heard his mom sigh and walk away.

* * *

Ben was hot and sweaty. His face was bright red and his shirt was soaked. Soccer practice was wearing him out for tonight's training session and Ben was positive he wouldn't last.

"Tennyson!" his coach barked. "Come here."

"What's up Coach?" Ben asked, walking towards him. Practice was over and he really just wanted to go home.

"I noticed that you haven't been on top of your game lately," the coach started. "Is everything all right? Something going on that you need to talk about?"  
"No, everything's fine," Ben lied. _Yeah, everything's perfectly fine if you like getting beaten up every night and played like a fool._

"Okay, well, if you need to talk, my door is always open."

"Thanks Coach, I'll remember that." Ben said good bye and walked over to the bike rack. He put his helmet on and rode over to Mr. Smoothie's; he deserved a treat, even though he had at least three every day.

"Welcome to Mr. Smoothie's. What can I get you?" a lady with blond hair that was pulled back into a ponytail asked.

Taping his chin, Ben looked at the menu. "I'll take an apple-bread-banana smoothie."  
"Sure thing," she replied. She made his order and returned shortly. Ben paid and left the store before the lady could say the standard goodbye.

"I wonder what Nature is doing right now," he asked himself as he sat at a table. "Wait, why am I thinking of her? What do I care? She's probably drooling over Mr. Perfect! What does he have that I don't? What does she see in him and not in me?"

"Do you always talk to yourself, or is this just a one-time thing?"

Ben jumped up at the sound of another voice talking. His smoothie knocked over, spilling all over the table. "Nature!" He exclaimed as he started cleaning up the spilled drink. "How much did you hear?"  
"Oh, just the last part. Who sees what in whom?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, no one," Ben stuttered. "Just a, just a TV show I watch." She tilted her head to the side, confused. "Never mind."  
"No, no, go on," Nature urged eagerly. "I want to know what a 'TV show' is and what's happening and how she see something in one guy but not you."

"Oh, well, um," Ben frantically searched his brain for something he could use. "A TV show is like a really short book except people are acting out the book. Then different people put the show onto a machine called a TV which you can turn on and watch the show."

"Huh, interesting." She thought this over before asking him to continue. "So what does this have to do with a girl that you like that likes another guy even though you want her to like you."

"Well, there's this girl who is amazing that I just met," Ben said, glancing at the floor. "She likes this other guy who is a complete jerk and I really like her and not the guy she likes. I'm trying to figure out how she could like him and not me. What could he have that I don't?"  
"Is he smart, funny, cool, and over all the most perfect guy in the world and you're jealous that you are none of those things?" Nature asked him with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah," he said. "Hey! I am smart, funny, cool, and over all the most perfect guy in the world. And I am not jealous!"

Nature laughed. "Whatever you say Ben, whatever you say."

"I will!" Ben looked at her. "That didn't make much sense, did it?"

Nature laughed again. "No, not at all."

Ben laughed. "Do you want a smoothie? I was about to go get another one anyways."

"Sure. Strawberry please." Ben nodded and turned, only to face a huge ugly creature. It was the darkest color of black Ben had ever seen, minus Kevin's raven black hair. It stood at about six feet and had human-like features. The eyes were just white holes in its head that were glowing eerily; the nose was smooshed in; the mouth just a thin line that showed no expression. When it open the mouth, Ben could see pointed teeth, almost like a vampire's. It was thin and gangly, but he could see muscles underneath the pulled-too-tight skin. Its hands were the size of dinner plates, completely out of proportion to the rest of its body. The feet were webbed and yet it could walk perfectly on land.

"What is this thing?" Ben screamed at Nature.

"I have no idea," she said, raising her hands, "but we're going to take this thing down." Vines shot out of the concrete ground and wrapped themselves around the strange creature's body.

Ben walked up to it and had Nature lower it down so he could see it eye to eye. "What are you? Who do you follow?"

The creature let opened up its mouth and let out an ear-splitting screech that sent Ben flying back into a metal pole that supported Mr. Smoothie's. He groaned and rolled over. It broke free of Nature's hold and lunged towards her. She jumped up as it rushed towards her. Using water from the nearby pipes, she directed a forceful stream of water at her opponent, knocking him over briefly. It quickly stood up and lunged at her again, this time baring the sharp teeth.

"Okay, so you hate the planet and you don't drink water. I'm going to guess you live off of a very hot diet," Nature remarked while forming a fireball in her hands. Grunting with effort, she threw it in the direction of the alien. It stumbled but didn't back away from the flame; it kept advancing. "Okay then. Well, there is nothing better than a little cool down after a long fight." The water that had knocked it down before threw itself against the creature again at the same time as a cold gust of wind hit it, forming an ice bubble around it.

Nature ran over to Ben and helped him up. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.  
Ben rubbed his head and nodded. "I think so. What is that thing?" he asked, looking at the ice sculpture.  
Nature shook her head. "I have no idea. We need to tell the others about this. This could be part of the prophecy."  
"Which part?" Ben asked sarcastically.

"The part about how an unknown threat will come. Everything is finally starting." Nature took off running in the direction of the beach. "Where are you going?" Ben called.  
"To tell the others. Grab Kevin and Gwen and come to the beach. We need to talk!" Nature called back. She kept running while Ben sighed and dialed his cousin's number. Knowing Kevin would be with her, he didn't bother calling him.

* * *

Hey guys! I'm back!!! Yay!! I miss everyone's reviews....COMMENTS TIME!

taa--Thanks for R&R-ing! I will definitely check out the story you suggested.

That's all I have. Yep. How sad is that? Extremely sad!!!! So in order for this part of the chapter to not be extremely sad, click the button over there. No, not there. No, almost there. There! Yes! That button!! Click it and start typing!!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	16. Chapter 16: The Scream

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Ben 10. That part belongs to Man Of Action who is actually a group of five guys.

Chapter 16: The Scream

Ben looked up as soon as he heard the familiar screech of Kevin's tires. Gwen jumped out of the car and ran to Ben; Kevin followed but not as fast. "Are you okay?" she asked while glancing over to make sure nothing was broken.

"I'm fine," Ben said.

"So what's the emergency?" asked Kevin as he strolled over to the cousins. He was planning on telling Gwen but then Benji just had to call asking for help or whatever. Was it really this difficult for Ben to fight by himself? Does he really always need help or did he just want witnesses to bow down in his greatness of defeating whatever?

"Come on," Ben said, ignoring Kevin's question, "Brant is about to start! We can't miss anything!"  
"This isn't a trick to get us to training, right?" Kevin asked again. How hard was it to answer a person's question?

"Come on!" Ben urged. He ran off in the direction of a big cave with Gwen and Kevin following close behind. They slowed to a walk when they entered the mouth of the cave. Kevin could see a huge bonfire-type thing with six people around it who seemed to be talking in hushed voices. "They're here," Ben announced to the group. One of them stood up and Kevin suddenly realized that it was Brant and the other aliens.

"About time," Brant complained. "We were going to start without them." All of the teens rolled their eyes and the elder. Ben, Gwen, and Kevin took a seat around the fire, facing Brant. Ben was next to Nature who sat next to Artaxiad. He clenched his fists and Gwen and Kevin shared knowing glances. _At least they aren't sitting _so_ close together,_ Ben thought as he relaxed a bit.

"As you all know," Brant started, "Nature and Ben were attacked today in the Mr. Smoothie's parking lot by a strange creature that came out of nowhere. Nature, why don't you describe this, this, thing, so we know what we're up against," Brant suggested.

Nature nodded and stood up and went over to where Brant was standing. "It's thin and gangly looking, but has muscles, and is the color of the darkest black imaginable. It's about six feet tall and has some human features. The eyes are just glowing white holes in the head and the nose was smooshed in, almost flat. The mouth is just a line but when it opens its mouth, you can see the pointed teeth that are like a vampire's. The hands are about the size of dinner plates and the feet are webbed, but it can walk perfectly on land. It's strong and can let out an extremely loud screech. It sent Ben flying backwards into a metal pole."

"Man, I wish I had seen that," Kevin said, earning a slap. Ben sent a grateful look at his cousin.

"Anyways, it doesn't seem like it's afraid of fire like most things. I'm not sure what it's called, but whatever it is, it has got to have something to do with the prophecy." Nature went over to her seat and sat back down.

"I contacted some of our allies to see if they had ever seen something like this before; all of them said no," Brant said. "I even asked a person on the other half of the universe to see if anyone over there has seen anything like it. So far, everything has come back a negative. I told your father, Nature, and the other teams to keep their eyes opened for anything. If they came from somewhere, we're going to know where, what planet, and ask the inhabitants of that planet to tell us how to defeat them. But if you are right, Nature, and they are a part of the prophecy, then no one would have seen them yet except you two and Gwen and Kevin. You haven't seen anything like Nature described have you?" Brant asked them.

Gwen shook her head. "This is all news to us."

"Okay. So we need to find one of them and start studying them. It's times like these I wish I had modified the lab to come with me. Oh well, guess we'll have to do it old fashion way."  
"But where are we going to find one of these things?" Jarlath asked. "If no one has seen them before, how can we study it?"  
"Nature froze the one we fought at the Mr. Smoothie's. It's probably still there," Ben said.

"Yeah," Kevin agreed. "The people of Bellwood are used to this stuff and probably didn't touch it. They know better than that."

"Great. So let's head over to Mr. Smoothie's and check it out," Brant said.

* * *

Kevin sped down the highway with those who could fly above him, following him. Gwen was in the front seat as always and Ben in the back. Brant didn't want them to waste their energy just getting their; he wasn't taking any chances.

"Hey, look over there," Gwen said, pointing to her side of the car. "It looks like—" She was cut off as something jumped onto the hood of Kevin's car.

"Oh, come on!" he cried. "I just painted it!" Everyone climbed out of the car and, those who had been flying, landed on the ground.

"It's one of those things Nature and I fought!" Ben said loudly.

"Right," Brant said. "Let's go!" Immediately, everyone launched into battle.

Brant drew a fire ring around a large group of whatever-they're-called but Nature was right: They weren't afraid of fire. "Scratch that plan," he muttered. "Guess I'll have to rely on good old classic moves." One of the ugly things ran up to him and reached for his neck. Brant kicked out a leg and knocked it down, hearing a loud _thump!_ Leaping up, he landed on the creature's body and hit an area behind his head. He felt the thing give a shudder and stopped moving. "Ah, the universal move for any creature still holds true," Brant said before launching back into battle.

* * *

"Why don't they just give up? Or why don't we just finish them off like always?" Tsiyone complained to his friends. He had already knocked twenty unconscious but they still kept coming. It was getting annoying, but then again, Tsiyone always felt annoyed when things wouldn't just quit in a fight. But what did he think? They were just going to stop because he was getting annoyed and wanted to go home?

Jarlath was slamming the things into each other and handing them off to Kenya who would finish them off. "I know how you feel bro," Jarlath said to Tsiyone, "but we can't just finish them like we always do. We know nothing about them. We need to save at least one or two to do the tests and learn about them and stuff. Brant would loose his head if we didn't."

"Yeah, but, all I'm doing is finishing them off," Kenya said from where she was. The pile next to her was growing as fast as Jarlath and Tsiyone could get the things to them. "It's getting kind of boring."  
"Sorry that this isn't fun," Jarlath said sarcastically. "I would add pretty ponies or whatever you girls like but I'm short on pretty ponies at the moment."  
"It's okay," Kenya said. "I can supply the ponies." In the next moment, a pony stood next to pile. "Now watch this," she said. One of the things rushed at her but Kenya used one of her hind legs to hit him in the head. Flying backwards, Tsiyone caught it and slammed its head against another's and both slumped to the ground. "How's that?" she asked Jarlath.

"Better, but you could still use some work," he replied teasingly.

* * *

Artaxiad shot streams of light at the aliens who were attacking Nature and him. "Ready yet?" he asked her.

"No," she said. Conjuring up the wind, she watch several aliens get swept up into a tornado and sent away only to be dropped on some of the other aliens, knocking them down. "Now I'm ready."

Artaxiad cupped his hands together and Nature put her foot in them. Using every ounce of his strength, he threw her up into the sky. While she was flying, she combined all of her elements at once and Artaxiad's light to form a barrier. Together, they used the barrier to push all of the creatures away and burning them in the process. Nature heard Tsiyone complain about something having to do with how unfair it was that Artaxiad and her could finish them but he couldn't. She wasn't really sure. She was focused on wiping the things around her and her friends gone.

"Not all of them, Nature!" she heard Artaxiad call from somewhere below her.

She blushed red. "Right." She stopped and landed in Artaxiad's arms. He set her down and asked if she was alright. "As always," she replied with a smile.

"Good. Shall we?" he asked.

"We shall."

* * *

Gwen caught sight of Kevin covered in the green metal identical to his car. She had never met any one who was as much in love with their car as Kevin was. If he was going to beat the crap out of anything that touched his car, he was going to use his car's metal to beat the crap out of it. It was just a thing he did. "Kevin watch out!" she cried.

He whipped around just in time to hit a creature square in the jaw. "Turn around!" he called. Gwen turned around quickly and stopped the thing using her mana. Kevin fought his way over to her and they fought together, back to back.

* * *

Ben zoomed around in the air. He loved the feeling of flying whether it was Jetray or Big Chill, he didn't really care. Flying felt the same, wonderful, amazing, entrancing. But right now, Ben didn't have time to fly for pleasure, strictly business. He allowed the lasers to shoot out and hit the ground. He didn't want to hurt any of them, but just scare them. When Ben saw that they weren't afraid, he thought, _They're not scared. I hate to do this, but..._ He started firing the lasers at the things to knock them down. Not hard enough to kill them, but hard enough for them to stumble and fall back. They weren't giving up. Even with everyone fighting at the same time, they weren't giving up.

Ben turned the face of the Omnitrix and slammed down on it. "Echo Echo!" he cried. He looked down and said, "Crap." He screamed as he fell down, forgetting what alien he was. A sonic scream bursted out of his mouth, causing the things to cover their ears. "So, even they can't handle to scream of Echo Echo," Ben said.

"And neither can we!" cried Gwen from behind him. She had stopped fighting to cover her ears.

"Sorry," Ben apologized. "You might want to cover your ears again. I'm multiplying!"

"That's what she said!" Kevin called. "Ow!" Ben guessed Gwen had slapped him. "What? It wasn't even that good!" Ben made sure everyone had their ears covered. He multiplied into twenty different Echo Echos and let out something resembling a sonic boom, except higher pitched. The creatures covered their ears and ran away.

The Omnitrix bleeped out and Ben transformed back into himself. "Guess they can't handle anything as high as Echo Echo."

Gwen came over and stood next to her cousin. "If they can scream, why didn't they?"

"Maybe they were told not to," Ben suggested.

"Yeah, or maybe they can't," Kevin said. "Maybe they can't scream at all and all you and Nature over there heard were a car's tires squealing."

"It's a possibility," Gwen said. "I don't know why though. It doesn't add up. Ben was thrown against a metal pole when the thing at Mr. Smoothie's screamed. They were fighting. Why didn't they scream now?"

"Who knows," Brant said, walking over to the pile Jarlath, Kenya, and Tsiyone had made. "But we better take these back to the cave. We'll have to do some tests and stuff. I have no idea how we're going to do it without the lab."

"You could go back," Nature said. "You know, and then let Dad and everybody else know we're okay."

"Yeah, because that's going to go over well," Artaxiad said. " 'By the way, we got attacked by these things that are apart of the prophecy but we have no idea what they are or anything about them and the kids are fine even though everything sucks for them.' "

"It doesn't have to go exactly like that," Nature said. "Just sneak into the lab, Brant. You know that place as well as any of us, if not better. Dad is never going to know, nor will anyone else. Just do it."

"I'd rather not," Brant said, picking up some of the bodies one by one. "We'll just do it here. I'm sure I can find some things I can use. With your help of course." All the teens groaned. "Now come on, we have to get back to the cave. Kevin, put these in your car."

"No way," Kevin said. "there is no way I'm putting those things anywhere near my car!"

Brant sighed. "Fine. I'll have some of my guys carry them. Now let's go. We still need to grab that one at Mr. Smoothie's before someone else does.

* * *

Hey guys! Wow, two in two days. The second fastest update ever! *Does a happy dance* Okay, so nothing new is really happening with me. Oh, wait! Yesterday I bought three shirts: one of them is white that has the original five Power Rangers (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers), one that is white and has Yoshi on it, and a shirt that is (seriously!!) French Fry color (this is real!!) with Spongebob on the front that has a picture of him wearing awesome nerdy glasses that says "Nerd is the word". I'm not normally a huge Spongebob fan but the shirt is perfect for me! Ask any of my friends. Okay, COMMENTS TIME!!  
Oh, wait, there are none! :( Now I'm sad. Okay, so I guess I'm going to have to go eat breakfast and start on homework now :( :( That's saddening. Leave me a review or something and I will a) love you forever and b) give you cookies. Not really, but Kevin will!!!!! And if your a guy, Gwen will!!!!!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	17. Chapter 17: The School

Disclaimer: If I knew how to say "I do not own Ben 10 or anything having to do with it" in another language, I would say it. But since I don't, you're going to get stuck reading it in English. Enjoy!

Chapter 17: The School

"I'm going to need a sharp knife, light, something to cover my hands, something for magnification, and tweezers," Brant ordered as soon as he walked into the cave. "Oh, and some test tubes and containers. I'll find the other stuff later. Right now, we need to cut one of these guys open and keep the others under close watch. Study their habits, the way they communicate, anything. Try and fin out information; we need anything and everything we can get our hands on. Move!"

"Artaxiad, carve this rock for me?" Nature asked.

"Sure." He walked over and took the rock from her hand. "What shape?" Nature's face was filled with disbelief. "Kidding."  
"You better be. And make sure it's sharp. I don't need a pissed off Brant on my case."  
"Yeah because heaven forbid Brant getting pissed off at you on top of everything else that's happening."  
Nature shook her head and walked over to Gwen. "Do you have any idea where we could get a ton of containers? I'm not sure how many we're going to need exactly," Nature said to the red haired girl.

"Between Ben and I, I think we could come up with a few. I'm pretty sure I can grab some dissection stuff, too. I don't think my science teacher will mind," Gwen said.

"Well he shouldn't," Kevin said, materializing at her side. "She's the smartest person I know."

"That's not true," Gwen protested. He gave her a look that made her shut up immediately. Why she let him stop her from talking, she had no idea but she didn't really want to know.  
"Well, can you get them now? Brant is a little anxious and wants to get started," Nature said to Gwen.

"I can try. He might still be there," Gwen said.

"Great. Kevin, go with her," Nature said with a wink directed at Gwen. "Hurry!"

"Will do," Kevin said, walking out of the cave. Gwen glared at Nature's retreating back before following after Kevin.

* * *

"Are you coming or not?" Kevin asked from outside the car.  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Gwen grumbled. She climbed out of the car and walked to the front door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kevin shudder.  
"One of the few things I hate," Kevin answered as if he had read her mind, "the smell of a school."  
"It's not that bad," Gwen said.  
"Right. I'm going to need an oxygen mask if I want to survive." Gwen slapped his arm. "You know that didn't hurt."  
"Do you want it to?" asked Gwen, dead serious.  
"No, I'm good."  
They walked into the building, surprised it was unlocked and all the light were on. Gwen led the way to the science lab while Kevin acted like he was in a toxic waste zone. Gwen stopped to face Kevin and put her hands on her hips.

"Kevin Ethan Levin," Gwen stated, using his full name, "you have faced countless DNAliens, been to the Null Void and back, absorbed the Omnitrix's power twice, and you fought, and won, against the Highbreeds and Vilgax and you can stand there and tell me you are afraid of a school?"  
"I'm not afraid!" Kevin yelled. "I just hate the smell of a school."  
"And what does a school smell like?" She raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.  
Kevin thought before he answered. "Florescent lights, paper, musty books, Expo markers, pencil shaving, and the usual teen angst.  
"How can you smell teen angst?" Gwen puzzled.

"Magic," he answered. Gwen shook her head and continued to walk to the lab. When she got there with Kevin behind her, she turned the know, expecting it to be locked. Gwen was surprised when it turned easily and the door swung open.

"Hello? Mr. Solberg? Are you here?" Gwen called .The lab was still set up from today's experiment. "He's not here. Where could he be?"

"I don't know," Kevin said, "but I do know that we should grab the stuff and run."

"I guess you're right," Gwen said. She went over to the supply closest and opened it when something huge and black fell on top of her. She let out a loud scream that sent Kevin running over to her and ripping the thing off of her. He pulled his arm back, ready to punch whatever it was. "Stop!" Kevin looked at her like she was completely out of her mind. "It's Mr. Solberg! He's unconscious."

"Well, what should we do?" Kevin asked now gingerly holding the man.

"We grab the stuff we need, take Mr. Solberg to the hospital, and go back to the others," Gwen said. "We can make up a story along the way." Kevin nodded and lifted the man over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes while Gwen collected test tubes, containers, and a dissection kit. "Let's go."They headed to Kevin's car where Kevin put the unconscious teacher in the backseat with Gwen's scientific stuff. The two teens climbed into the car and drove to the hospital, all the while making up a story about Mr. Solberg slipping on some spilled water and hitting his head on the tile floor.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is so short. I couldn't think of anything else to put in it. I'll try and make the next one a little longer. Okay, COMMENTS TIME!!

girlnextdoor14--Thanks for the reviews! That's right, reviews with a "s" as in, more than one! Ha ha, my deadline. For those who don't know, my deadline is Saturday morning of the week. Yeah, kinda said isn't? I should be watching cartoons or something. Ha ha. Anyways, I'll try and include Gwevin in the next chapter but no promises. And I am too disappointed in my TWSS joke last chapter. I'll try and make it up to you guys!

That's it for this segment of COMMENTS TIME!! Tune in next week for (hopefully) another one! Thanks for reading and please leave a review! I feel like no one is reading this except girlnextdoor14. You don't have to sign in to leave one. I take anonymous ones!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	18. Chapter 18: The Dissection

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own anything but the new, made-up characters/creatures/events.

Chapter 18: The Dissection

Kevin's car screeched to a halt and the two teens climbed out. They were back at the beach after driving to the hospital where they had checked Mr. Solberg in. Gwen had told the nurse that she had found him lying on the floor near a pile of water and assumed he had slipped and hit his head. Gwen had given the nurse her cell phone number, telling her to call Gwen for any news.

"C'mon, Kevin," she called.

"I'm coming," he said. They walked down to the cave in silence, each carrying some of the requested items.

"Why does everything have to happen to us?"

"What?"

"Why does everything have to happen to us?" he repeated.

"I don't know, Kevin," Gwen answered.

"Is there some divine force working against us? Does it want us to give up and die?"  
"Why are you thinking about this?" Gwen asked, concern creeping into her voice.

"Because I'm starting to notice that we keep rushing into a huge, final-like battle only to fight in another one." Gwen turned to look at Kevin, realizing what he just said. "For once, I just want a couple of weeks off from everything. Just get away and forget everything, you know?"  
Gwen took his hands in hers and looked him straight in the eye. "We're Plumbers, Kevin. We're Plumbers and we can't just take a vacation for a week. We're always going to have to work."  
"Gwen, I know," Kevin said, holding her glare. "But is one week off so hard to ask for?"  
"I don't know," Gwen said, leaning into him. "I don't know." She looked up at him and saw him lean in closer, eyes closed. Next thing she knew, his lips were on hers and Gwen could hear her blood rushing in her ears. Shots of adrenaline were shooting through her veins. She shivered, not because she was cold (she wasn't), but because Kevin was kissing her and that's all she had ever wanted.

Before she knew it, he leaned back, breaking the kiss. They stared at each other, shocked that, after all this time of Gwen pestering Kevin, he kissed her.

"I told you I would when the time was right," Kevin murmured.

* * *

Kenya's ears perked up at hearing footsteps. Looking at the entrance of the cave she saw two figures walking. Turning back to her human form she went to meet them. "Gwen and Kevin are back!" she called when she recognized them. She took some of the stuff from their hands and carried it to the back of the cave with them following with the rest.

"What took you so long?" Brant asked.

"Gwen's science teacher was passed out in the closet," Kevin said slinging an arm around Gwen's shoulders. Nature gave Gwen a wink who returned the gestured by blushing furiously. Kevin chuckled and pulled her closer. Ben gave a quick look at Gwen that said "We'll talk about this later."

Brant took the supplies and laid them out in a neat, organized way. "Get the one that's against the wall and bring it over here."

"Is it dead?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Brant said while picking up a sharp scalpel. He examined it before setting it down and inspecting another. "Unfortunately, that is. But we do have a couple that survived. We'll wait a couple of days before we start interrogating them. Don't want to let them go easily. Better to scare than be friendly."

Artaxiad nudged Nature who slapped Brant. "What?"  
"Luckily they are all still unconscious," Artaxiad said, pointing to where the creatures laid in a heap. "Nature and Jarlath are going to build a cage to keep them in when they come back to the real world. You should probably go find him and get started," he said to Nature.

"Jarlath!" she screamed.

"What?" he asked as he walked over to the group.

"We need to get started on that cage. It needs to withstand sonic screaming, not have any weak places, and no dirt floor. We can't afford them to escape via underground."  
"Right. Let's go over here and talk about what we're going to do," Jarlath said, steering the girl away from Artaxiad, Kenya, Brant, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin.

"You would think after all she's been through she could stand a little dissection," Brant mused.

"What?" Ben said.

"Never mind," Brant said, dismissing the issue with a wave of his hand. "Come on, we don't want this one to ripen. I need four heavy rocks!" Nature looked up and raised her hand. Next to Brant, there were four rocks with holes in the ground that were right beside them. "Thank you." Picking one up, Brant walked a short distance before dropping it on one of the creature's webbed feet. Ben winced at the sound of bones breaking.

"Keep it down!" Nature yelled from her place next to Jarlath who was scribbling something down.

"Then plug your ears; I've got three more," Brant yelled back. Nature didn't listen but winced every time a rock was dropped.

"Are you done yet?"

"Yes." Nature returned to her work while Brant went to start his. "Gwen, your job is to hand me tools, Kevin, you write down everything I say, Artaxiad, give me light, and Ben, just, just stand there. Or go help Nature and Jarlath or something."

"Wow, I feel loved," Ben said. He made his way over to Jarlath and Nature.

"Okay, so we surround it with pillars covered in vines. Then, the dome and 'windows' will be made up of ice; thin enough to see clearly but thick enough so none of the things can escape using their scream or anything else they might have," Jarlath described.  
"Anything I can help with?"  
Nature jumped up and whirled around, fists raised. "Oh, Ben, it's just you."

"You sound disappointed," Ben joined.

"Yeah, because I was expecting someone who doesn't constantly wear green."

"Ha ha, funny," Ben laughed drily.

"Why, thank you." She flashed a smile and sank back to the ground next to Jarlath. "And to answer your question, no. I think we've got everything under control. We'll let you know if we need help."  
"Oh, okay." With nothing to do, Ben walked over to the side of the cave and sank down to the ground.

Back over at the dissecting group, Brant took a knife out of his pocket and slashed the front of the creature's body open. Dark liquid came gushing out, quickly covering Brant's hands.

"Collect it, fast," he ordered. "It must be the blood." Kevin grabbed a vile from Gwen and filled it to the top with the blood. "Okay, let's drain the blood outside and get back to work. I'll wash my hands."  
Once that was done, they came back together in the cave. "Now, let's see about their anatomy. I need to see how hard the bones are and what the easiest way to break them is. It'll make it easier for us to finish them off in battle. Gwen, give me a scalpel. Kevin, hold this like that. Yeah, perfect. Okay, now don't move a muscle. Don't want to accidentally slice you." Brant touched the tip of the scalpel to what he assumed was the muscle and cut a straight line. Kevin pulled the muscle away to revel...nothing.

"What the hell?" Kevin whispered.

"If they have no bones, what do they have?" Gwen asked.

"Nothing," Artaxiad said. "The muscle must be their bones."  
"But there's nothing surrounding the muscle," Gwen protested. "There's nothing to protect it to prevent it from getting injured. What's the point of that?"

"The point is they don't need bones," Kevin said, speaking for the first time in a long time. "Whoever these things are minions for, they obviously don't care how easy they are to defeat. As long as there are a ton of them in one area, it'll make whoever is fighting them tired."  
"And once they're tired, they won't be able to do much," Kevin finished.

"Exactly," Brant said. "All we need to do is cut the muscle to ribbons and down they fall. Not to mention the spot on the back of the neck. Guess we'll have to work on endurance and tactics." Artaxiad and Kenya groaned.

"Endurance is the worst," Kevin whined.

"And tactics are so boring!" Artaxiad complained.

"Congratulations, you now know how we felt when you did your stupid training," Kevin said smugly.

"Trust us, we knew how you felt a long time ago," Kenya said. "We just wanted to torture you guys. You never had to do any of that stuff."  
"Are you serious?" Kevin blurted. "You sons of a—"

"Now's not the time to argue," Brant interrupted Kevin. "Go home. Come to training tomorrow if you want, I don't care. Just don't blame me when your asses get wiped on the ground. And don't expect me to clean you up. I've done that enough throughout the years."  
"Fine. Ben, come on, we're going home," Kevin said to his friend who had fallen asleep.

"Wa, what?" Ben groggily said, rubbing his eyes.

"We'll try and come back," Gwen promised.

"See what I care," Brant snapped. While the three humans left, the six stood silent. The five teenagers looked at Brant like he was out of his mind. As far as they were concerned, he was.

"What? Get back to work!" The kids turned their backs to him and continued to do what they had been instructed to do in the first place.

None of them could understand why Brant had a sudden mood swing, but none of them had the guts to ask what was going on.

* * *

"What is his problem?" Kevin asked while he climbed into his car. "Who does he think he is? First telling us some stupid prophecy which we are apparently apart of, then forcing us to do some stupid training, and finally telling us that he doesn't care whether we're dead or alive! Can he solve all of his problems and not take his anger out on us?"  
"I don't know," Ben said.

"Well, whatever it is," Gwen said, "something is bothering him. And I bet it has to do with whatever is coming." She looked at the sky before joining the two boys in the car.

* * *

Hey guys! I'm sorry I didn't upload last week but I did this week and I'm hoping I can get another chapter before the end of the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed ;) COMMENTS TIME!

ethiopian1987--Thanks for reading and reviewing! Ha ha, thanks for the translate button which I have been using constantly!

Well, that's it for now!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	19. Chapter 19:The New Enemy

Disclaimer: Yo no tengo nada que tenga que ver con Ben 10. (Translation: I do not own anything having to do with Ben 10.)

Chapter 19: The New Enemy

Nature raised her hands and watched pillars of rock rise up from the ground, forming a ring around the aliens. There was no need to call Artaxiad over to make intricate designs, no matter how much she liked to.

Vines wound their way up the posts, wrapping tightly around it. Ice filled the gaps and formed a dome over the top. Jarlath walked up and rapped his knuckles against the ice "windows".

"It should hold." He whipped around to see Nature standing with her hands on her hips.

"Should?"  
She nodded. "Unless they have a laser cutter hidden somewhere, they aren't getting out any time soon."

Jarlath noticed one of the things starting to regain conscious. It shook its head and looked to see where it was. Seeing Jarlath, it stood up on wobbly legs. It took a step and fell. On the second try it made it halfway, slowly getting the feel of its legs back. On the third try, it was walking and made its way to Jarlath.

_Mental note,_ he thought, _once they have recovered, they have recovered. Have to share that with Brant later._

The creature reached out its hands as if to squeeze Jarlath's head until it exploded. Its hands hit the glass; it seemed startled. Then, it started to pound on the ice and Jarlath tensed. _It's going to break, it's going to break._ But it didn't.

"How could you think that?" Nature asked.

"Think what?"  
"It won't hold."

"What, you can read minds now?" Nature smiled. "Because if you can read minds, now's the time to tell me." She laughed.

"Is it working?"  
Nature turned to see Artaxiad. "It's not a machine."

"You know what I mean. Can they break through the ice?"

"No. One of them just tried," Jarlath said, jumping into the conversation. "IF you'll excuse e, I have to go tell Brant some vital information."  
"Why does he always talk like the genius he is sometimes and others not?" Artaxiad asked as Jarlath walked away in search of Brant.

"I have no idea," Nature said. "Let's just give him some lee way."  
"Who says 'lee way'?" Artaxiad laughed.  
"I do." She turned to the cage Jarlath and her had designed and she had built.

"I guess we should give these guys a name, huh?" Artaxiad said. "Even they deserve to be called something, though they do want to kill us..."

"Demeres."  
"What?"

"Let's call them Demeres," Nature said.

"Um, okay."  
"Do you not like the name or something?"  
"No, no, I do. Just surprised it came to you so fast." Artaxiad turned to face the entrance of the cave. "Let's go; we've got training."  
"God, kill me now," groaned Nature. Artaxiad laughed, put his arm around her shoulders, and walked his friend out the cave.

* * *

  
"Is he trying to kill us?" Kenya asked as she collapsed onto the cave floor.

"You mean I'm not dead?" Tsiyone joked.

"Unfortunately no," Artaxiad said.

"At least we're done for the rest of the day," Nature said.

"That's what you think." The group of five turned to see Brant's silhouette. They groaned and grudgingly got back up.

* * *

"Okay, so I don't get it. All you do is kick a ball into a net with a person in it?"

"Yes, Kevin."  
"Well what's the point of that?"

"To score a goal so you can get a point which will tell you whether you win or lose."

"Okay, so answer this Tennyson: When you're scoring a goal, why don't you kick the ball at the person in the goal?"  
"Why would you do that? They could stop the ball."  
"Not if you kicked hard enough. See, if you kicked hard enough, then the person would be down and then you could kick the ball again and this time score without worrying about a person being there to stop the ball."  
Ben shook his head. "I have no idea, Kevin."  
"Well, next time, you should try it."  
"I will if I'm not the one standing in the goal." Kevin climbed into his car with Ben opening the passenger door.

"What are you doing?"  
"Sitting in the front."  
"Why?"  
"Gwen's not here."

"Back seat."

"What? Why?"  
"Back seat."  
"Fine."  
They drove to Mr. Smoothie's where they met Gwen.

"So how was the game?" she asked when Kevin and Ben climbed out of the car.

"It was awesome! We won 3-0! Not to mention the awesome saves I had!"

"Did you enjoy it Kevin?"  
"What? Oh, yeah."

"Really?" Gwen asked, surprised.  
"Yeah. My nap was great. Once I ignored the screaming, I was out like a light."  
"Gee, thanks Kev," said Ben sarcastic.

"Kevin Levin, Gwen Tennyson, and Ben Tennyson, wielder of the Omnitrix."  
Ben turned and said, "What? And how do you know—" In front of him was a huge figure, at least seven feet tall with horns on the side of its head that made him look like Satan. The skin was a shocking blue with glowing yellow eyes. Four long arms came out of the sides of the body and it had two long legs. "Who are you?"  
"I am Demor. And you three are a part of my prophecy."  
"Which would be?" Kevin asked.

"To kill The Four."

* * *

Hey guys! That's right! I left you with a cliffie ;) I'm soo evil, right? It's okay, you don't need to say anything. This is my graduation present to you guys. I graduated yesterday! My speech was pretty kick ass if I do say so myself, which, of course, I do. COMMENTS TIME!

ethiopian1987-See, I used it this time! Yay! And thanks for the review ;)

girlnextdoor14-I like your dedication to your fave author ME! Ha ha and I do review your stories. Don't lie; it's not nice.

That's it for the comments from last time. PLEASE REVIEW BECAUSE IF YOU DO YOU WILL GET COOKIES!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	20. Chapter 20: The Thoughts

Disclaimer: Does anyone want to give me the rights of Ben 10 to me? Anyone? Please? I graduated! No one? **Sigh** Okay. I don't own Ben 10 or anything having to do with it. This story is for fun and I'm not making any money off of it, even though I wish I was.

Chapter 20: The Thoughts

"Are you kidding me?" Gwen smacked her boyfriend (or would it be friend with benefits?) in his side. "What?"

"You just told the guy who wants to kill us 'Are you kidding me?'" Ben said to Kevin. "Are you mentally deranged?"

"Very much so," Kevin said. "But we can talk about me later. Right now, we need to take care of Blue Boy."  
Demor laughed. "Please, I don't need to waste my time with you three. I like to kill all my birds with one stone."  
"What do you mean you don't need to waste your time with us?" Gwen asked. "You said you wanted to kill us."  
"Not now I don't." Demor turned and walked away.

"Yeah, well when I have a problem with something," Kevin said, "I like to deal with it right away. You want to kill me, therefor, I have a problem." His body absorbed the concrete parking lot and chased after Demor. The only problem with Kevin's plan was there was no one to chase after. Demor was gone.

* * *

"Okay, we've got a serious problem," Jarlath said. After their encounter with Demor, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin rushed over to the cave where Nature, Artaxiad, Kenya, Jarlath, Tsiyone, and Brant were. After all, they did drag them into this crap.

"Is Demor the force trying to take over the universe?" Ben asked.

"It only makes sense if he is," Kenya agreed. "He wants to kill you three which confirms Nature's idea. Now the only question is who is the last?"  
"I'm pretty sure it's Nature," Jarlath said. "I mean, it's kinda obvious." The others nodded in agreement.

"Well if this Demor guy is the force," Artaxiad wondered out loud, "then the attack is coming sooner than we thought or want."  
"So what should we do?" Tsiyone asked. All eyes turned towards Brant who seemed deep in thought.

"What you guys need to do is to take it easy for a couple of days," he said looking around at the group. "All of you. No heavy training, running, anything. But run a mile or two. We don't need you guys to be completely out of shape."  
"What are we going to do when the battle comes?" Kenya asked. "I'm not standing on the sidelines while my best friend fights for her life and the universe!"

"Let's worry about that when the time comes," Brant advised. "Right now, we have to focus on what's going to happen." Brant sighed while the others stood. After moments of silence, the teens walked away to parts of the cave where they could think.

* * *

"Kevin?" He looked up at the sound of his name. Gwen. "Are you okay?" He shook his head and she sat beside him. Her head rested on his shoulder while an arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer.

"I just want all of this to end," he said so softly that Gwen barely heard.  
"Why? I thought you loved all the excitement, the thrill of it all," she asked.

"I do. It's just," he sighed, "I can't keep doing all these crazy, end-of-the-world, final battle stuff."  
"I know, Kevin, I know," Gwen said. She gently kissed his cheek and sat in silence with her boyfriend.

* * *

Nature and Artaxiad sat next to each other towards the back of the cave. "What do you think is going to happen to us when all of this is over?" Nature asked in a whisper. This seemed like a good time to whisper.

"Probably the way the Prophecy wants it to be, what ever that is."  
"Why can't it just show us with the rest of it?" Artaxiad shrugged. Nature let out her breath that she had been holding and stood up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have to tell Ben the part I'm not telling him."  
"We can always tell hm later,"Artaxiad suggested. "He doesn't need to know now."  
"Yes he does."

* * *

  
He stood silently, processing all the information he had received. He wasn't what you called brainy, but he wasn't all brawn either.

"It's a lot to think about, huh?"

"Yeah." Tsiyone looked at Kenya before returning his gaze to the ocean. "I just wish none of this was going to happen. Or that we knew what the end is going to be."  
"My guess is they aren't going to go home and live happily ever after." Jarlath walked up to the two and stood on the other side of Tsiyone.

"What makes you think that?" Kenya asked.

"With all the mysteries and riddles about the Prophecy, I highly doubt it's going to let them off easily. They'll probably be stuck doing something for the rest of their lives," Jarlath said. He shrugged. "But maybe not. I mean, the universe works in mysterious ways. It wouldn't be the first time somebody was wrong about something this big, right?"

"I guess not," Kenya said.

* * *

"Ben, can we talk?" Ben looked up from the fire and saw Nature staring at him.

"Yeah, sure. What about?" She took a seat across from him and stared at the fire. "Um, hello?"

Nature shook her head and looked at Ben. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked what you wanted to talk to me about."  
"Oh, right. Sorry." She adverted her gaze back at the fire. "Listen, I know this is going to sound creepy beyond belief, but you have to trust me, okay? Whatever I say, you can't freak until I'm done."

Ben glanced at Nature worriedly. "Are you sure you want to tell me this? It seems pretty big."  
Nature sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that night. "I don't want to, but I have to, Ben. Just listen." She looked him right in the eyes and started. "There's a part of the Prophecy that we haven't told any of you guys yet. It goes, 'The First and Second shall be together/As will the Third and Fourth/Anything previously felt for another/Will dissolve into nothing.' Do you have any idea what that means?"  
"Um," Ben thought. "No."

"Okay. What it means is the First, Second, Third, and Fourth are positions of command. The First and Third are guys and the Second and Fourth are girls. Depending on whether or not you're the First depends on whether I'm the Second or the Fourth. It kind of works as a pair. First goes with Second and Third goes with Fourth."  
"So, like a team?" Ben asked.

Nature nodded. "Exactly. Now, let's pretend you are the First, that would make me the Second, Kevin the Third and Gwen the Fourth. When the Prophecy says, 'The First and Second shall be together/As will the Third and Fourth' it means, like, um, together. They'll be together. The part that goes 'Anything previously felt for another/Will dissolve into nothing' means that if you liked someone before, like your current girlfriend or whatever, then you won't feel anything for them romantically. You'll fall in love with your pair. If Kevin is Third, that would make Gwen the Fourth and they would fall in love with each other and they couldn't change their minds even if they wanted to."  
"So if Kevin and Gwen are the Third and Fourth, that makes you and me the First and Second," Ben said, finally understanding.

"Exactly."  
"So that means that we'll fall in love?" She nodded. "Wow."

"Yeah." She rubbed her arm and looked back at the fire. An awkward silence fell over the two.  
"Any questions?"  
"A ton," he admitted, "but I don't think you can answer all of them."  
Nature laughed. "I can certainly try."

Ben smiled. "Well, I warned you." Nature laughed as questions came rapid fire out of Ben's mouth.

* * *

Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter. And guess what? I uploaded before the weekend! Yay! I really have nothing else to say so I guess it's time for...COMMENTS TIME!

ethiopian1987-Thanks for the read and review! Ha ha. And don't forget that French always sounds like fancy swearing. No offense to those who are French. I'm just saying that it sounds like swearing but very fancy. I better shut up before I make this any worse...

Well, that's it for now. Please read and review and Kevin will come to your house and give you a big hug with his shirt off while he's wet ;) That's what she said. Okay, that wasn't good either but it kinda works with the last part. Hahaha, I crack myself up.

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	21. Chapter 21: The Note

Disclaimer: I'm sorry to announce that I do not own Ben 10 or anything having to do with it. Please feel free to uncontrollably cry into your tissues. Your concern is appreciated.

Chapter 21: The Note

Ben's eyes fluttered open when he felt someone pushing on his shoulder. "Wake up, Sleeping Ugly."  
"Aw, Kevin, I never knew you cared," Ben said drily.

"I don't." He looked surprisingly awake for someone who never woke up early.

"What time is it?" Ben asked.

"A little after nine. Why?"

"Just wondering, geez. Oh, crap! I'm missing school!" Ben cried. He was instantly awake and started running to the mouth of the cave. "Come on! I'm late already and I don't want to make it worst."  
"Calm down, Benji. It's Saturday, remember? You don't have school. And even if you did, I wouldn't drive you."  
"Why not?" Ben asked, not hearing the "It's Saturday" part.  
"Because," Kevin said, "you have a super-duper, speedy bike. Not only is it good for the planet and extend your life up to four years, but it's also yours and not mine!"

"Thanks Kevin. Glad to know your so aware of the my and the Earth's health," Ben said sarcastically.

"Any time. Now come on, Fire Pants wants to talk to us about something." Kevin walked out of the cave and went over to the shore where the group of Heartlanders were. **(A/N: Heartlanders are the people from Heart, aka Nature, Artaxiad, Brant, etc., etc.) **

"Okay, got Ben. Now what's the problem?" Kevin announced.

"Glad you woke up," Gwen said.

"Isn't everybody?" Ben said with his usual air when someone added air to his already large ego-centric head.

Ignoring Ben's comment, Nature said, "Demor left this." She handed a piece of paper to Ben who took it uncertainly. He read it and handed it back.

"So?"  
"So? Is that all you can honest say?" Artaxiad cried. "This guy wants to battle you to the death! Because that's what he wants! If your not dead, he'll make sure your dead. While he's worrying about that, you four have to kill him while avoiding death. How can you only say 'so'?"

Ben shrugged. "Simple: Ignore it. There's no way he actually wants us dead."  
"How stupid are you?"

"Pretty stupid," Kevin said. "Ow! Gwen! There's no need to hurt me when I state a fact. Ow!" He rubbed his arm. He was pretty sure that there was going to be a bruise in the morning.

"Does it say when he's going to come?" Gwen asked. She snatched the note from Artaxiad's hand and scanned it quickly.

"No," Nature said. "Just the usual I-want-to-kill-you-here-are-my-reasons death note."

"Well, as happy as this note sounds, I don't think we have anything to worry about," Ben said shrugging his shoulders.  
"He wants to kill us Ben," Nature said looking at the teen. "We want to kill him. Still think we should take training easy?" She looked at her older mentor hoping he would say something. Brant had been eerily silent ever since Kenya saw the piece of paper outside the cave.

"Yes," came his calm reply. "We can't risk you working your butts off and then having Demor come down to have you fight him to the death. It's what he wants and I don't want to give it to. I'd be handing the universe on a silver platter."

"Well, we can't just sit here waiting," Artaxiad argued. "We need to do something!"  
"Go run two or three miles. No more than five," Brant said. "You need to stay in shape but not worn out."  
"Whatever," Artaxiad muttered and took off running.

* * *

**One week later**

Ben laid his head back against the cool wall and sighed for the hundredth time that day.  
"Can you stop sighing? It's getting on my nerves," Kevin said.

"I can but I don't think I will," said Ben.

"Hey, guys," called Gwen. "Can you come out here? There's something you should see."  
"Sure. We'll be right there," Kevin said, standing up with Ben. "I wonder who it is." The two boys walked out of the cave and over to Gwen who was staring at the sky.

"What's up?" Ben asked. Gwen kept her eyes locked on at the sky and said,

"Look."

Ben and Kevin looked up and their mouths dropped open. In the clear blue sky, there was a black flying disk; your stereotypical UFO. There was a gang plank coming out of what Ben presumed the front. One end was attached to the UFO and the other ended a few feet in front of the group. Walking down the gang plank was a silhouette of a tall figure. None of them could figure out who it was but they each had their own guesses as to who it was.

"Where's Nature?" Ben whispered into his cousin's ear.

"She's with the others on a run," she murmured back. "They left a few minutes ago."  
"Good," Kevin said. "Then we have some time to spare."  
They fell silent as the silhouette came closer and closer to the trio. Glowing yellow eyes contrasted the still dark-looking skin which was probably a shocking blue. Normally bright colors meant happiness, but how such a bright colored creature could be so evil was beyond Ben. It was almost like an oxymoron.

Demor stepped off of the plank and took a couple of steps forward. "Where is the other?" His voice echoed, somewhat.

"She'll be back in a couple of days," Kevin lied. "You might as well go back to wherever you came from and come back later. After all, don't you like to kill all of your birds with one stone?"  
"I'm glad you payed attention, human," Demor said. "After all, isn't your race arrogant? Destroying your own planet and believing you are superior to all?"  
"Hey, not all humans are like that," Gwen spoke up, pink orbs of mana suddenly surrounding her hands.

Demor looked around at the surrounding area and settled his gaze back to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. "This is truly sad. I guess I can wait for a few more minutes. The spaceship isn't going to go anywhere without me."  
"I thought I told you Nature was going to be back in a couple of days," Kevin said, gritting his teeth.

"How can that be if she's right behind you?" Kevin turned around and saw Nature and the others walking towards him.

"What's going on?" Jarlath asked, seeing the ginormous alien standing in front of him. "Who's this?"  
"Demor," Ben said drily.

"Since the second is here, we shall be going," Demor said, pointing to Nature.

"Um, you're not going anywhere," Artaxiad said, stepping in front of Nature. Ben clinched his fist. Nature noticed and signaled for him to calm down.  
"Yeah," Kenya said, stepping up. Anger blazed in her eyes and her voice was ice cold. "You want to fight, you fight here."

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry this is kinda a short chapter and stuff. I'm nearing the end of story! How close I am is for me to know and for you to find out. Anyways, I got grounded last weekend so I couldn't update again last week so I'm sorry about that. As you can tell from my profile, I have a lot of stories and ideas so I'll be taking a break from Ben 10 for awhile. I can already here my friends cheering. They hate it when I talk about Ben 10 ;) They make fun of me :( Anyways, it's time for COMMENTS!

Sienna1997-Thanks for R&R-ing. I'm glad you like the story!

ethiopian1987-Your welcome ;) I understand and agree with you completely.

Well, that's it for this week! Thank you everyone who have ever left a comment or read the story. I love looking at the hits and stuff and seeing how many people are actually reading this. Thank you guys so much and sticking with me this far. Thank you!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	22. Chapter 22: The Pickup and the Escape

Disclaimer: I once owned Ben 10—but that was in my dreams :(

Chapter 22: The Pickup and the Escape

Demor sighed and shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you pesky humans: You others are not involved. I do not have all day and I must fight The Four. It is inevitable. So, I suggest you get out of the way or something very bad will happen."

Artaxiad advanced forward but was stopped by Ben's arm. "Okay, we'll go," Ben said.

Artaxiad looked at the boy. "Are you mentally insane?"  
"That's what I wonder all the time," Kevin muttered.

"Look, we can't risk losing you guys. If us four fall, it's going to be up to you guys. Besides, he wants to fight us. And he keeps interrupting everything," Ben smirked. "I think it's time to end this." Ben walked up to Demor and moved his head back so he could see the alien's face. "Let's go." He pushed past Demor and made his way up the moving platform. Ben disappeared into the ship.

Gwen looked at Kevin who was narrowing his eyes. "Come on. Let's go save Ben before he falls out of a window or something," she said and made her way up the ramp with Kevin close behind, but not before he stuck his tongue out at the thing that was really getting on his nerves. Nature looked at her friends with a longing glance and reluctantly made her way to the platform.  
"Where are you taking them?" Brant asked, ice in his voice.

"Wherever I need to to defeat them." Demor turned his back and headed back towards his ship. Artaxiad ran after him and shoot him with light that had come out of his hands. Demor turned around and with a flick of his wrist, sent Artaxiad flying into the cave. "Now, if you humans are done with this foolishness, I shall be off." Demor walked up the ramp and the door closed behind him. Brant, Kenya, Jarlath, and Tsiyone watched in awe as the ship flew up and disappeared into space, twinkling like a star.

* * *

Ben blinked against the bright light that emitted from the room. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a large, bright, white room that was completely empty except for a door at the other end. "Ben, don't do anything stupid!" He whipped around and saw his cousin running towards him. Gwen stopped in front of him and blinked rapidly at the sudden light.

"Did Ben jump out the window yet? Because I'm not cleaning up that mess." Kevin covered his eyes with an arm as he stepped into the empty room. "Jesus Christ."

"Where?" Ben asked, looking around. Gwen shook her head. The door the three had entered slid open to revel Nature and Demor. He pushed Nature towards the others and snapped his, um, fingers.

"Okay, you have us, now what do you want from us," Kevin said when the door slid shut again. Demor snapped again and the four teens were suddenly sitting in a chair. Iron bands closed around their wrists and ankles, restraining them.

"You will remain here until the fight begins. You will receive food and water but you will not be moved. Is that clear?"

"Um, what if we have to go to the bathroom?" Kevin asked.

"I would suggest you don't," Demor said dully. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some place to be. If you're not here when I return, there will be some serious issues." Demor walked to the other side of the room and disappeared behind the door.  
"Yeah, okay. Where exactly are we going to go," Ben muttered. He looked over to see Nature struggling against her bands. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get out of these things. If we're going to fight, I'd rather it be to our advantage, not his. Kevin, can you absorb the iron from your bands?" Kevin nodded and soon his whole body was covered in the silver metal. "Okay, now, I need you to try and break free." He struggled much like Nature had done not too long ago but with the same results.  
"It's not working," Kevin complained. "What do we do now?"  
"Gwen," Nature asked, "can you snap them off using your mana?"  
"I would if I could, but I can't. My hands need to be free in order to do that," she said.

Nature sighed and leaned her head back against the head rest of the chair. "Any other ideas?" she asked the group.

"How about you just wait?" came a voice. They twisted their heads around to see a little man with bulging eyes and rather large hands standing with a tray. He advanced towards the bound teens and smirked. "It'd be easier than trying to break free. You can't escape."

"Uh huh," Gwen said slowly. "And what makes you think we can't escape?"  
"If I told you what I know, I'd be perished. I really don't want to be perished. But if either of these young ladies did myself a favor, maybe something could slip."

Anger flared in Kevin's eyes. "If I were you, I'd be taking a couple of steps back."

"I'm not afraid of you," said the man. "If anything, you should be afraid of me."

"HUGO!" Demor's voice boomed in the spacious room.

"Coming!" the little man, Hugo, called back. He looked at the teens and set down the tray he was carrying a few feet away from them. "You can eat if you can get the tray." Hugo scampered out of the room without a second glance.

"Well, he was helpful," Ben said sarcastically. He looked over at Nature and saw her struggling again. "You can't get out, remember? You already tried."  
She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "If there is one thing you should never forget about me, Ben, it's that I never give up." Fire appeared in her hand and started to dance, mesmerizing its creator. Directing the flame at her other hand's bound, Nature increased the intensity of the fire. Ben watched as the flame licked the iron, turning the silver color into a burning hot red. His eyes flickered to her face, watching for an sign of pain.

"What are you doing?" Kevin cried nervously from her other side. Gwen stretched her neck so she could see what was making Kevin nervous.

"Burning the iron," Nature replied calmly, sweat starting to form on her forehead from the intense heat. "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner."

"You're going to burn yourself!" Gwen said. "Stop!"

"I'll be fine. A little burn never killed anyone."

"No, but a big burn has," Kevin said.

"Look, we'll figure some other way out of here. Just stop," Ben pleaded.

"I said I'll be fine!" Nature yelled. Her head whipped up and the flame died as her hand broke free. Holding her wrist for inspection she said, "See? No burn. I told you I would be fine." She quickly worked on her other hand and massaged her wrists once both were free. Flames from both hands ignited and went to work on her ankles. Once those were free, she stood up and stretched. "God, you have no idea how great it feels to stand!"  
"I will once you get me out of this chair," growled Kevin.

"Patience, patience, Kevin," Nature said, shaking her head, "it is a virtue, you know."

Kevin sighed and dropped the conversation. Nature turned to Ben and worked to free him. Once he was, she worked on Gwen and Kevin, in that order.

"Thanks," Kevin muttered.

"Any time. Now come on, we have to find a way out of here," she said looking around the room.

"What, you didn't have anything planned after you got us out of those chairs?" Kevin asked.

"No. To be honest, I didn't think it was going to work."  
"Perfect."

"Alright you kids, here's your water." Gwen whipped around and made a band of mana and put it over Hugo's mouth. He tried to scream but no sound came out. Kevin punched the little man so that he was hurt, but not too much, and was unconscious.  
"He'll come back around," he said innocently. Gwen rolled her eyes and started to drag the body over to the chairs and sat it in one.

"Let's go through the door and see where it takes us," Ben suggested. "Maybe it'll lead us somewhere we can escape."  
"Like what?" Kevin asked. "Escape pods?"

Ben nodded. "Exactly."

"It's worth a try," Gwen agreed.

"Alright, fine. Let's go," Kevin said. With Nature leading the way, the group crossed the room and went through the white door.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update. Between camps, practices, games, and the World Cup, I've been extremely busy! In case you care, I'm rooting for USA, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, and Brazil. Leave a review telling me who you want to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup! Anyone watching Total Drama World Tour on Cartoon Network? I am! GO DUNCAN! Anyways, it's time for: COMMENTS TIME!

ethiopian1987-To be honest, I didn't have an insperation for Demor. I just kinda made him up. Just to confirm, you WERE the first one to review last chapter. Yay for you!

PARAN0ID ANDR0ID-Wow, you left a lot. Thanks! I'm glad you love the story so much. See, people, this is what I want to see in my inbox. A ton of review emails. PARANOID ANDROID, you rock for leaving so much in one sweep. Thanks! As for what Ben asked Nature at the end, he just asked a lot of questions that she some how magicially answered.

Well, that's it for now. And don't worry people who don't want to spam my story with reviews or don't have an account, you are more than welcomed to review as many times as you like without logging in. Thanks to everyone who read the story/chapter and everyone who left a review. I don't know how much farther I have to go but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for holding on!

Until next chapter,  
Writingaddict169


	23. Chapter 23: The Search

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for the ones that you have never heard of.

Chapter 23: The Search

"Whoa," the group breathed, amazed at the sight. It was a room way bigger than the one where they were held hostage. There were two decks and various machines scattered throughout the room. Creatures of different species were around the room manning the machines, running around, or giving orders. On the top deck sat Demor in a tall-backed chair watching out the floor-to-ceiling window. Stars flashed by in a blink of an eye.

"Come on," Nature whispered. As silently as she could, she made her way to the other side of the room, staying hidden in the shadows. The others followed close behind hoping they wouldn't get caught. Nature suddenly stopped and held her breath. A crossover of a squirrel and a giraffe stood in front of her holding a manila folder stuffed with papers. Its nose twitched as it sniffed the air in front of it.

"Hey, are you coming?" a voice called from the other side of the room.

"Yeah," said the thing. "Just thought I smelled something."

"It's probably just lunch."

"Yeah," the thing said again. As it walked away, the tiny group started tip-toeing again. Ben's shoelace came undone, and needless to say, he tripped, taking the whole group down with him creating a loud _thunk!_

"There it is again!" The squirrel-giraffe said again.

"That's just one of the engines," its friend said. "Now come on, Demor wants those coordinates. He doesn't want to wait any longer. Besides, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can go home." The creature sighed and walked off with his friend to Demor who was on the second level deck.

"Ben!" Nature, Gwen, and Kevin hissed.

"Sorry," he whispered, offering a smile. Nature and Gwen shook their heads and quietly got up.

"Alright, now let's try and not draw any more attention to ourselves," Nature said. "We have the element of surprise so let's use it wisely. I have no idea how long it'll be before someone finds out we're gone." The others nodded and they continued to make their way across the enormous room.

When they reached the opposite side, Nature led the group to the corner where it was the darkest. "Okay," she whispered, "when that door opens, run through it as fast as you can. On the other side, hide in the shadows and don't make a sound, got it?" When Ben, Gwen, and Kevin nodded, Nature said, "Okay. Get ready." Just as she said, the door slid open and a combination of an elephant and a dog walked through. "Go!" The four teens raced through undetected and hid in the shadows before the door closed. Nature took the lead again and led the group down the corridor. It split into two different hallway, one going left and the other going right.

"Okay, what now, super spy?" Kevin asked.

"I'm thinking," Nature whispered.

"Why don't we split up?" Gwen suggested. "Ben and you go one way, and Kevin and I go the other."  
"That's the stupidest thing to do right now," hissed Nature. "If we go different directions, they are more likely to find us. When they find us, our advantage is gone. Plus, if one of us gets caught, the other group won't know and we'll leave the other behind. Not what I call the smartest thing."  
"Well we can't exactly sit here either," Ben said. "Gwen and Kevin can go that way and you and I can go the other."

Nature started to protest but was cut off by Gwen saying, "Fine by me. Let's go, Kevin." Kevin shrugged at Ben and Nature and followed the red head.

"Don't forget to tell us if you find a way out or something!" Ben called to the retreating pair. Nature directed a strange look at Ben. "Plumber badges," he said innocently, showing her the Omnitrix.  
"I thought it only allowed you to change into aliens and gather new DNA," Nature said.  
"Oh, it does. But it's also a communicator. It comes in handy." He flashed a smile at her and walked down the hallway.

* * *

Ben couldn't help but sneak glances at the girl behind him. She wasn't seeing anyone, Artaxiad was out of the picture, sort of, and he and her were a pair! He was the First and she was the Second. Or he was the Third and she was the Fourth. Either way, they would end up together and Ben was fine with that.  
"Is there something on my face?" a voice asked him, shaking Ben from his thoughts.

Ben shook his head and blushed in embarrassment. "What? No, there's nothing wrong."

"Okay, so then why do you keep staring at me?"  
"I'm not staring!" Ben cried.

"Sneaking glances, whatever. Same thing. Anyways, so if there's nothing on my face, then what is it?"  
Ben looked ahead of him and desperately tried to think of an excuse. "I'm just making sure nobody sees us."  
"That's why we stay in the shadows," Nature said, "and be careful every time we turn a corner."

"Right." They crept along the empty corridor, keeping completely silent. Nature grabbed Ben, covering his mouth with her hand and pulled him up against the wall, his body covering her's.

"Don't move," she threatened as quietly as she could manage.

"Why?" Ben asked although it sounded more like "Mmh?" Nature glared at him.

"He did what?" came burly voice from around the corner.

"Yeah. Can you believe it?" said a higher-pitched one. "He actually told me—Hey, who are you?" Ben and Nature looked up to see the owners of the voices staring at them.

"Um, you don't know us," Nature said quickly, trying to think of a lie. "We work in the engines room."

"Then why aren't you covered in black?" the deeper voice asked.

"Because—"

"Because we just started," Ben said. "We were on our way."

"They must be the new batch of workers," the second voice said to his friend. Turning to the two teens he said, "Well, to get to the engines you're going to turn right and walk down that hallway. Turn on your second left, go down the stairs, and the engine room is the first door on your right."  
"Thank you, sir," Ben said, playing up the part. Luckily, the other workers laughed.

"Please," the first guy said, "we're not that far up the chain just yet. Now, get to work. You don't want to be anymore late than you already are."

"Thank you," Ben said again, dragging Nature behind him and rounding the corner.

* * *

Gwen and Kevin had been walking a circle for the last half hour. "I'm telling you Kevin, we keep walking in circles. The only way out of it is to go through one of the doors."

"And risk getting caught? I don't think so," Kevin argued.

"You're forgetting that I can sense how many people there are behind each door, Kev," Gwen said, stopping.

Kevin looked back to see Gwen wasn't following. He sighed and walked back over to her. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he said, "Gwen, trust me. I know what I'm doing."  
"Really?" Gwen challenged. "Because to me it seems like we keep walking in circles."

"Fine, we'll do it your way!" Kevin said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Thank you!" Gwen closed her eyes and her hands started glowing pink. She stood in front of a door but quickly moved away. Kevin knew better than to ask what was wrong with that door. After a couple more tries, Kevin let out a loud sigh.

"This is getting us nowhere!" he complained.  
"Really?" Gwen asked, lowering her hands and opening her eyes. "Open this door for me." Kevin rolled his eyes but did as she asked; turning his hand into iron, he smashed the door with it and stepped inside an empty room.

"Could you try and be quieter? They don't know we escaped," Gwen said. She followed Kevin and looked around.

"You know, you're starting to sound like Nature and that's getting on my nerves," Kevin said.

"Well, maybe you should use common sense," Gwen said. "I'm pretty sure you don't need a super-powered alien human chick to tell you that."

Kevin rolled his eyes and and started looking as well. After a few minutes of finding nothing useful, he asked, "What are we looking for?"

"Escape pods or something that will get us out of here," she answered.  
"Then let's leave, this room looks like a lounge or something for coffee breaks."

Gwen shook her head. "No, let's keep looking. I think there's something here." Kevin shrugged but did as he was told. He ran his hands along the iron of the walls and the wood of the tables looking for a button or weak section he could bust down. "Yes!" Kevin looked over and saw a section of the wall drop down to reveal a hidden passageway.

"Told you," Gwen said with a smirk. Letting an orb of manna manifest into her hand, she stepped down the hallway with Kevin quickly following her.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I had a mix of World Cup fever and writer's block. Not the best combo out there. I just wanted to say congrats to all the teams that participated in this year's FIFA World Cup and I'll be seeing you guys in 2014 in Brasil. (Yes, that's how you are suppose to spell it!) For those who care, Spain came in first, Netherlands in second, and Germany in third. Yay! I can't wait for next year's Women's World Cup! :) Guess what? What? COMMENTS TIME!

PARAN0ID ANDR0ID-Thanks for the read and the review! :) I know it was short but I seem to be having bouts of writer's block :( I'll try and cure it.

ethiopian1987-Thanks for R&R-ing! :) But you are right, Demor is not going to like it at all.

Well, that's it for comments. Thanks for those, you guys! And to those who haven't reviewed/commented/whatever you call them, what are you waiting for? Reviews/Comments/Criticism is an author's best thank you, trust me. My face lights up when I read a new review :) Like that, except much brighter and the face bigger because, even though it may not seem like it, I am a human. Okay, I'm thinking about asking you guys a question at the end of every story that you can answer in your review or PMing me. So here goes this week's question: What is/was your fave 90s cartoon show? Mine are Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series (yes, that was a show! Check it out on YouTube, they have all the episodes there) and Gargoyles and a ton more that will take forever to answer. So, what are you waiting for? Click the button below and leave a review, answer the question, and check mark one or more of the various buttons!

Until next time,  
Writingaddict169


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